Byakko
by Lady Shinimegami
Summary: Chapter 11 Chi's dad, LeiSying, plots her death The story of the Byakko no Miko and her Seishi. Unfinished
1. Shichi Seishi Tokaki

Chapter One: Shichi Seishi Tokaki

It was warm, and that gave her comfort.

Oosugi Suzuno wasn't too sure what had happened. She had just gotten home from school, gone to her father's study and found a book... and... now she was lying on a hard warm ground. She clenched her fist and felt grass.

Slowly opening her eyes Suzuno saw before her a meadow. She quickly sat up and looked around her. Nothing but grass and hills for miles and miles. She didn't know what to say, and so for what seemed like an eternity, she just sat there and gaped at the land around her. Where was she? Had that book had anything to do with this?

She thought the scene over in her head. What had the title of the book been anyway? She had read it, but she couldn't remember it, something about Gods. She had never seen it before, that's why she opened it. And when she did... There had been a bright white light, it had surrounded her. It had been warm, comforting. It had blanketed her in its protection and gently place her... her...

Where in the world was she?

"Hello there."

"Ah!" Suzuno yelled and jumped up at the sound of the voice. She quickly turned around and saw before her a young man riding a horse. He had white hair and brown eyes that almost seemed yellow. He wore armour and his horse had many bags on it.

Suzuno had to look him over twice before she was sure he was real. There was a man before her, on a horse, wearing armour that looked to be Chinese. It couldn't be real. She almost wanted to grab a hold of him just to make sure he was actually there and that she hadn't fallen into some sort of a hallucination.

Maybe she was sick.

He whistled. "What a pretty girl this is, but strange clothes. You're not from Xi-Lang* are you?" He looked her over, a pretty girl with long black hair down in braids and dark brown eyes. She looked confused and a little scared, making him wonder if she was hurt or anything.

"I... I ah... My name is Oosugi Suzuno. I live in Morioka Japan. Who are you?"

The man gave her a puzzled look. "Morioka Japan...? I've never heard of that place. What are you doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"I don't know," Suzuno answered meekly, taking another look around the area. Nothing. "I was in my father's study... and then suddenly," she looked back at him and the sceptical look he was giving. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I might..." He got off the horse and stood beside her, he was much taller than she was. "My name is Hahm Lau'an, I'm a soldier, and might be able to assist you."

Suzuno looked past him at the bags on his horse. "Are you moving somewhere?"

"No..." Lau'an answered, looking away from her with sad eyes. "Those belonged to my family, I'm bringing them to my home in the capital."

"Why-" Suzuno cut herself off, she knew it wasn't her place to ask. "How far is it to the capital then?" If she went there then she could figure out exactly where she was and how she could get home. This whole thing would make sense, she just had to figure it out.

"If we start now, we could be there by sunset."

Lau'an put his hand out and Suzuno took a step back.

"C'mon, you can trust me," Lau'an said with a smile.

"How do I know that? I don't know you, this place, the way things work here. I don't know what to think."

Lau'an paused. He should tell her.

"You're scared. You came from a different world, right?"

"I... I don't know. That's impossible, isn't it?" Suzuno wanted him to agree with her so badly. This was a dream. It had to be a dream.

"One minute your father's study in Moriaka Japan, the next in a meadow in Xi-Lang?"

"Morioka."

"Whatever, whatever, the point is," Lau'an took a step forwards. "I know why you're here, Byakko no Miko*."

"Byakko no Miko?"

--

Lau'an stopped the horse outside the city gates and let Suzuno take in the sight before here.

It was unbelievable, there before her very own eyes was a city, a great city that looked as if it had come right out of a painting of ancient China. How could all of this be happening, it was all so overwhelming.

"You really live here?"

"Yep, I moved here two years ago when I was 17."

Suzuno shook her head. "There's just no way, I can't believe it. This is just some crazy dream Lau'an."

"The only thing that's a dream, is you," Lau'an said, whispering gently into her ear. Suzuno blushed and looked down.

"Shouldn't we go in? It's getting dark."

"I suppose so," Lau'an said, sitting up with a smirk on his face. He felt that things were really starting to turn around in his life. He had found what could only be the Byakko no Miko, and what a hottie she was!

With a gentle kick to the horse, the two began to move in through the gates, Lau'an nodded at his fellow soldiers and they were allowed in without any hassle.

All around them the night life of the city was emerging. Men were going out, lighting fires and lamps, people were all going to bars and theatres. There was singing and laughing coming from all around them. Suzuno wanted so badly to go out there and explore before she woke up. This place was so different from Japan, there was so much happiness and joy surrounding them, she wished that Japan could be like this again, like it was before the depression and the war...

But she felt that first she had better try to figure out how she had come here and what Lau'an was talking about when he called her a Miko. Everything around her was beginning to feel more and more real.

"See that store?" Lau'an asked, getting her attentions and pointing to a small shop, Suzuno saw that it was written in Chines but recognized some of the characters above it. Flower. "My friend works there, Kasara Tsounie, he was the person who first told me about the Byakko no Miko. I'll have to introduce the two of you after we see the Emperor."

"Emperor!?!" Suzuno looked back at Lau'an, shock written over her face.

Lau'an smiled. "Well of course, he has to be the first person we tell that out Miko has finally arrived it."

"An Emperor? Ok, it doesn't matter how real this feels, now I know that this has to be a dream!"

--

Suzuno didn't move, didn't speak, she barely breathed. She looked down at her feet and waited for something to happen. She was in the thrown room, she was trying not to stare at an aging Emperor who had a kind face and a long beard, and she was pretty sure that either she had gone insane or that she was having one of the most wild dreams of her life.

"You are the Byakko no Miko?" He asked in a wispy voice.

"In all honesty you majesty, I don't really know what that means." Suzuno answered in a barely audible whisper.

"Byakko is the beast God who appears in the form of a great white tiger. He is the protector of the West, of Xi-Lang. And as prophesied, a girl from another world shall arrive from and become the Byakko no Miko to unite South and North Byakko to make peace in our land. That Miko is you."

Suzuno looked up at the Emperor confused. "But how?"

"That how I cannot truly tell you. But obviously Byakko has chosen you to be our Miko. And so it is up to you to make peace here."

"And how do I do that?" Suzuno asked, pondering what he meant. The city she had seen had been far more peacefully than were she came from.

"You must collect the seven Byakko Shichi Seishi*. Tatara. Tokaki. Subaru. Kokie. Amefuri. Karasuki. And Toroki."

"Seven... but that's so many. Are they here? Do I have to go far?"

The Emperor smiled. "Tokaki, you did not tell her?"

"No my Emperor, I did not want to flood her with information when she has just arrived."

Suzuno turned around and saw Lau'an bowing and speaking to the Emperor.

"You a Seishi? You?"

Tokaki looked up at her. "Don't look too surprised." Then suddenly he dissapeared.

"I'm not so bad." Tokaki finished, now standing right beside her. The character for Stride was on his left cheek written in white.

"Ah!" Suzuno fell backwards. "How did you do that?"

"The Seishi are given certain powers to aid you, Tokaki has the power of teleportation." The Emperor explained.

"Don't forget my skills as a fighter," Tokaki added with a smug grin.

The Emperor sighed. "Yes, Tokaki has many fine abilities in the martial arts as well."

Tokaki helped Suzuno onto her feet.

"That character..." Suzuno said, looking closely at his cheek.

"All the Byakko no Seishi have these. That's how you know for certain if they are one."

"But still, are these people scattered everywhere? Do we know who they are?"

"Unfortunately, no." The Emperor answered.

"But don't worry, Xi-Lang may be a pretty big place, but I just happen to know where we can find the next Seishi."

"Really?"

Tokaki smiled at her. "Remember my friend?"

--

"This will be your room for the night-"

"Where will you be?" Suzuno asked, not sure if she wanted to be alone is this strange world. She knew Tokaki relatively well, and felt comfortable with him. She felt safe with him.

"Oh, my house isn't too far from the palace," He replied.

"So... you won't actually be staying in the palace then?"

"No, I have some things to take care of," Takaki looked away from her and she could tell something deep was troubling him, but she didn't ask. She wasn't ready to ask and she was sure that he wasn't ready to tell.

"But don't worry," he added, returning to her face with a small smile. "I'll be back bright and early and we can go meet my friend. I'm sure you'll just love him."

"Well if he's going to be with me until I leave here, I hope we all get along."

"We're all the Byakko Shichi Seishi, I don't see how we can't all get along."

Suzuno nodded. "Yes well... I'm going to go the bed now."

"Oh course! You're probably exhausted."

Suzuno gave a little smile. "Yeah, just a bit."

"And don't worry, if you need anything, just remember that you're in a palace. There's always someone around the corner."

Tokaki gave her a short bow and then headed off down the hall, leaving Suzuno alone with her thoughts.

Suzuno took a last look at the stars, the moon, the whole garden around the palace, and then entered into her quiet room.

Her breath was taken away.

The room was lush in furnishing. It had a great bed to one side with silk sheets and lined with silver and gold. Then there were wardrobes and tables and mirrors and carpets and candle stick holders, all the kinds of things that she never thought would be in the same room as her in a million years. They were all gold, or silver or jade. Her and her father could live for years off of these things...

Her father.

She went over to the bed and sat down. Where was her father now? At home? He was probably waiting up for her. She knew the times were different, it was probably already morning there. He must be so worried about her... If only she could go back - just for a second - and tell him that everything was all right.

Using the brushes and water bowls in the room she washed up and put on a silk night gown that had been layed out for her. With her long black hair down, she looked into the mirror and sighed.

"It's all real." She finally admitted to herself. There was simply no question about it anymore. This place was real, those people were real, that reflection was real. Somehow she had ended up in this magical world and she knew that she couldn't leave it until she had summoned Byakko.

--

Tokaki walked into his small house and let the dark silence completely encase him.

He hated it here.

Sure, the actual capital wasn't that bad of a place. But here, in this small building, it was hell. It was nothing like the small farm near Tsu-Sang that he grew up in. There were no open fields, laughing faces, good natured people and a freedom that could never be taken away...

There was just a small room, now cluttered with the belongings of the dead.

He took the bags he had carried from Tsu-Sang and took out the objects inside and began to put them around his house.

Tokaki couldn't believe that everything his family had owned fit into a couple of bags and could easily be stored in such a small house. His father, mother and three brothers had so little... He had tried to give them so much. He had been the eldest, he had gone away to do the one thing he knew well in order to help support his poor small family. Fight.

But there was very little money to give around. Even when he was promoted to an officer - a captain - because of his mark of Byakko, he still made barely enough to give to his family... And now, now there was suddenly so much money because there was no one to give it to.

His job here was to protect the people of Xi-Lang, and he had failed the only people he ever truly cared for.

Tokaki sat on his small bed in the corner of the room, by a small window. He looked up at the stars, not letting the tears come out. He felt like he couldn't protect anyone, he felt like he was simply a failure.

He wasn't too sure how he was going to be able to protect Suzuno, but he knew that he had to. He knew that he wanted to.

*Terms:

Xi-Lang:Sairou

Byakko no Miko:Priestess of Byakko

Shichi Seishi:Celestial Warriors

(Suzuno Oosugi, Kasara Tsounie - Tatara and Lau'an Hahm - Tokaki are not my inventions, creations, characters. The Universe of the Four Gods/Byakko/Xi-Lang/Byakko no Miko/Shichi Seishi/Tsu-Sang also not mine. Everything else here is mine. This story is of course based off of Fushi Yuugi by Watase Yuu, and I think you get the point. I made an outline for this story about a year ago, and recently found it. I decided that I liked the idea and so here I am, sitting down and writing it. Now because it's been so long since I wrote this outline, most of these ideas are completely new to me - as crazy as that sounds - so this should be a fun journey for all of us. I can't imagine there being more than 10 chapters, but don't count on those chapters being short, because there is a lot of stuff to get down here. As far as all the powers, names and places go, I did research on some Byakko pages and by watching the anime, so hopefully this is correct. Ok, please review, I'd love to know your thoughts. And for all those people who I promised that I wouldn't write another FanFic 'till I was done all my other ones... I'm sorry)


	2. Shichi Seishi Tatara

Chapter Two: Shichi Seishi Tatara

"Oi*! Kasara! Now's not the time to be sleeping! I've got some big news for you!" Tokaki and Suzuno were standing outside of the shop, it was still early, but Suzuno and Tokaki were both anxious to get all the known Seishi together,

"Lau'an, is that you?" Came a groggy voice from inside. Suddenly a man with long brown hair and intense blue eyes opened the door to the store. He looked over his friend and then saw Suzuno.

It was almost as if his breath had been knocked right out of him. He had never in his life ever seen a more beautiful woman. She looked so gentle and sincere. Kasara thought his heart might stop if he ever looked away from him.

"Oi, Kasara," Tokaki began waving his hand in front of his face to get his attention. "Are you awake?"

--

"Byakko no Miko? Are you sure?" Kasara asked, looking back to Suzuno again in shock. This girl? This beautiful girl the Byakko no Miko?

"I found her in the middle of the valley, she said she came from a place called Mororoki Japam."

"Morioka Japan." Came Suzuno's correction.

"Whatever, whatever."

"Which one are you?" Suzuno asked, her eyes gazing intently into Kasara's.

"Which... which what?"

"Tokaki said you were one of the Seishi."

"Oh, right." Kasara stood up. "I am Tatara of the Byakko no Seishi." Tatara said, bowing his head to her, Suzuno found herself blushing once more.

"Show her your powers!" Tokaki said slapping him on the back.

Tatara nodded and then went over to the counter of the store. There, there was a row of bowls with seeds in them. He took one out and held it in his hands. Then it began to grown, vines slowly came out and began to roam about the room.

"You can control plants?"

Tatara nodded once more and let the vines recede back into the seed. He then put it back into the bowl.

"Is that why you own a flower shop?"

"Not just flowers, I mostly sell herbs."

"Wow..." Suzuno breathed out in total awe of him. She couldn't get over how handsome he was, well really she couldn't get over how handsome they both were... and how they were both basically at her command, there to protect her.

"Well, I guess we should go look for the other Seishi?"

"I guess that means you don't know where the others are?" Suzuno asked, hoping that she was wrong.

"Unfortunately no, but I'm sure we'll find them," Tatara answered, with a reassuring smile.

"We Seishi seem to find each other, isn't that right? I found Tatara by coincidence, and I found you, I'm sure I'll find the other five just as easily."

"Well then, let's get ready." Suzuno stood up with a smile. "We have a God to summon.

--

Tyamine Kousa carefully walked through the crowded streets of the Xi-Lang capital. It was good to be able to walk around again. Kousa had been waiting for this day for two years, ever since he was 19, and he wasn't about to waste one second of his freedom.

He walked past a young man who was talking to a friend and quietly and quickly grabbed his money pouch. The man continued to walk on by. Kousa leaned against a wall and inspected the purse.

"Two, four, six... eh not bad," Kousa said, twirling the small pouch on his fingers and then shoving it into his pocket.

Yep, life was good, and it would stay good as long as he didn't run into a certain Captain Hahm*.

--

"Tatara said he'll meet us at the gates, he said he has to get his younger brother to watch the store." Tokaki explained as he waited outside of Suzuno's room in the palace.

"How old is Tatara anyway?" Suzuno asked as she grabbed her bag, she had been wearing it when she had looked into the book and it had travelled with her. Inside were a few of her books, some writing utensils and a small metal mirror a little bigger than her hand. She had decided to take it with her as she searched for the other Seishi because she may want to study, or read, or write.

Also, she was still wearing her school clothes (freshly washed), but she wore a dark-blue cotton cloak overtop of it to look less inconspicuous.

"He's 20."

"20? You're all so young." Suzuno said thoughtfully, feeling a little guilty about pulling these people into this affair.

"Older than you," Tokaki smiled. "Wow, 15 and already a Miko."

"It's not so great," Suzuno replied as they walked through the hall to the horses that were waiting for them there.

"Not so great!?!" Tokaki stared at her with disbelief. "You're grovelled at by people everywhere you go. You're allowed to stay in the palace. The Emperor looks up at you. And," Tokaki smirked. "You get to hang around with me."

"Like I said, not so great," Suzuno said with a small smirk on her face as well.

Tokaki stared at her as she walked over to the stable. "Strange girl..."

--

"After all of this is done, do you think we'd be able to look around the capital?" Suzuno asked as they rode Tokaki's horse towards the gate to meet Tatara.

"I suppose so, but there's not much to see around here." Tokaki answered, shrugging.

"Not much to see? I've never seen anything like this. I still can't believe my eyes and this is the third day I've been in this world."

"It's still hard for me to believe that you're finally here. Tatara would go on and on about the Byakko no Miko and how important we were to her. In all honesty, I never thought you'd come, but I always hoped you would."

"How did you meet Tatara?"

"I met him when I moved here and first became a soldier. I was wandering the streets when I see Tatara fighting off some weasel of a pick pocket. I saved Tatara, threw the pick pocket in jail. In the process of fighting the pick pocket, Tatara saw my character, and he told me about how he had one and well... Now I'm just getting to be a bore."

Suzuno smiled. "No, I like stories."

"Tell me about yourself. Tell me about your world."

"There's so much, I don't know where to begin."

"From the beginning."

"Well, I live in Morioka Japan with my father. I don't have any siblings, because my mother died giving birth to me..." Suzuno paused. "My father never remarried."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tokaki whispered, his voice sounded from some deep hurt inside of him.

"We live in a nice house, and are doing ok even though the economy is failing-"

"What do you mean?"

"Hm," Suzuno thought for a little, trying to think what to say. "Well after the war, a lot of country's economies suffered. There are a lot of people now with no food or homes... It's terrible."

"War is terrible... and I wish ours would end."

"What are you fighting over anyway?"

"Religion, of course. Down here in the South, we believe that the Miko will come and save us... and in the North, they don't."

"We won't have to go to the North, will we?"

"... I don't know yet."

"Hey! My money!"

Tokaki stopped the horse and looked over to see a man at a store trying to buy some food, searching frantically through his pockets.

"I've been robbed!"

"A pick pocket?" Suzuno asked, and double checked that their bags were still strapped onto the horse.

"Yes..." Tokaki answered, eyes gazing over the crowd, searching. "There!"

"What!?!" Suzuno asked and grabbed onto the horse as Tokaki kicked it and started into the crowd of people. "What are we doing!?!"

"I won't let him get away!"

Confused and befuddled, Suzuno looked through the parting crowd and saw a man running away from them. She couldn't see his face, but he wore a long beige coat and had long dirty blonde hair done in a lose ponytail.

"Tyamine! Stop right there you thief!"

"Tokaki!" Suzuno yelled, frightened. Who was this man? Why was Tokaki suddenly losing his head?

Tokaki brought the horse up beside the man and then jumped off, tackling him to the ground. He didn't wait a second, he just started punching him.

"I thought you learned your lesson, you filthy bandit!"

Kousa got over his initial shock and punched Tokaki in the face, throwing the man off of him. Kousa then got onto his feet and wiped the freshly drawn blood off his face.

"Shit Hahm! I didn' do nothin'!"

Tokaki jumped back up and rammed into Kousa, pushing him against the horse where Suzuno watched on.

The horse reared and Suzuno felt herself fall off the horse in what seemed to be slow motion.

Suddenly she was on the ground, everything seemed quiet, and then she heard a voice.

"Oi lady, you ok?" It was the thief. Now she got a good look at his face and was stunned. He was very handsome, though in great need of a bath, with dark green eyes. He looked young, and yet his eyes looked very old and very worn.

He held out a hand and Suzuno took it, trusting his face almost instantly. She was on her feet when she saw Tokaki come at them.

"Get away from her you bastard!"

He shoved hard against Kousa, and Kousa rolled with it, spinning around Suzuno and taking a knife out.

"Don' move Hahm! I'll slit your whore's throat!" He yelled, practically spitting in Tokaki's face.

Suzuno felt the cold blade against her neck, but he didn't press hard. His hand was slightly trembling.

"He's scared," was all Suzuno could think. "He doesn't know what to do."

Tokaki took a step forward.

Kousa took a step back, dragging Suzuno with him, his arm tightly around her waist. "I'm serious!"

"Don't hurt her Tyamine, or I swear ever limb on your body will regret it."

"Maybe," Kousa replied with a confident grin. "Maybe not."

Then Kousa lightly jumped onto Tokaki's horse with Suzuno and began to ride away.

"Ah shit!" Kousa cursed as he raced the horse through the crowd, one hand on the reins, and the other wrapped around Suzuno.

"TOKAKI!!!" Suzuno yelled, looking back as Tokaki ran after them, teleporting after them even, but he could only go a few feet at a time. He was soon lost in the crowd as the horse sped up.

"He'll kill me! He'll kill me!" Kousa began to yell at himself.

"So then let me go!" Suzuno yelled, the grave reality of the situation sinking in completely. What if this guy was from the North, maybe that's why Tokaki had been so hard on him... He might kill her... he might do a number of things to her.

Suzuno attempted to struggle, but he was just too strong.

"The gates!"

"The gates!?!" Suzuno looked forward. Where was he? "TATARA!!!"

"Suzuno?" Tatara said quietly, hearing the yell. He was leaning against the city wall, holding onto the reins of his horse. Where had that come from?

Then he saw it, the horse stampeding towards them, he saw Suzuno... and, a man who looked terribly familiar. Then it hit him, it was the thief he had fought when Tokaki had first found him. The man he had put in jail. A man out for revenge.

"TATARA!!!" Suzuno yelled again, just as the horse sped past him.

Tatara quickly jumped on his horse and with a kick was after them. He looked back into the city for a second, but with no sign of Tokaki quickly put all his attention into following the horse.

There was only one place they could go from the city walls. To the North, and West, the meadow, but to the East and South, there was a forest. It wasn't a very dense forest, so Tatara was sure he could catch up to them, and of course, he was sure the trees would be able to aid him.

Suzuno could do nothing out hold on tight and pray to this Byakko that Tatara caught up to them. Once in the forest Kousa began to go in different directions, following no pattern, and Suzuno quickly realised that he was doing it so that they would lose Tatara. Her heart began to sink. This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

Tatara reached out to all the trees with his power. They had to be able to help him. Slowly the trees began to respond, the branches began to leech out, searching for the thief.

Kousa reacted as calmly as he could.

"HOLY SHIT!!!" He dodged as a branch came down and almost took his head off. The horse began to shout and Kousa knew it would probably rear again.

The trees were coming alive all around them. They were reaching out, grabbing at him, cutting him and the horse, maybe even Suzuno. He couldn't keep this up for long.

Then he saw it, his chance to escape. A pile of leaves.

Kousa slowed the horse down just a little and then made a sharp right, where he quickly sped up again. He turned around and felt a branch hit him on the side of his head, causing him to become dizzy. But still he kept looking behind him.

Suddenly Tatara came around the bend, and just like Kousa had expected, the horse lost its footing on the leaves and slip into a tree. The figures lay motionless.

With a smile, Kousa kicked the horse again at the two rode off into the woods.

*Terms:

Oi:Hey (I just like using this one...)

Captain Hahm:The Japanese version would be Hahm no Tou

(About Suzuno's story, I'm not sure if it's accurate, I was writing from memory. I also added what I don't think was ever explained. If anybody knows what decade all of this happened - our time - please tell me. I made in the 1920s - specifically 1924 - but I may very well be wrong, I'm just going on the hunch that Genbu went in the book in 1924, and this probably happens close to that so... If it is wrong, tell me, I'll change it. Anyway, I was gonna go on with this chapter, but I thought it might be nice to leave it on a cliffhanger. Also, this way the chapters will be shorter, though there might be more of them. Oh well! Now, let me talk about Kousa Tyamine, who is absolutely on hundred percent mine. He's not really based of anyone, though he sometimes reminds me of Tasuki, Gambit, the Count of Monte Cristo and a little bit of me thrown in. Does that make sense? Who knows. I really like him, especially since he's the first actual character in this who is MINE!!! I love saying that. One thing that was really fun about him was making up what he looks like. I was gonna give him black hair and brown eyes like a normal Chinese man would, when of course I realised that no other Chinese man in Fushigi Yuugi looks normal, so why should he? *Evil laughter inserted here* I think I'm gonna bug my friend to draw a picture of him, that way you guys can all see how hot I've envisioned him. By the by, I'll be putting up one chapter every week - Friday. If I miss a week, it just means you get two the next. Ok, lots of reviews! Love, you, goodbye)

Reviews:

Queen of Cups: Sorry! No BIAM BIAM in this chapter, but there will be BIAM BIAM later on! *Wink*

Golden Kitsune: Thanks Ravi, as usual your reviews helped tons. I changed a lot and think that the first few chapters are much better because of it.

Patricia: Hey girl! How's Newfoundland?

Krista: Thanks Krista, I know how much of a task writing that was for you... *Sweatdrop*


	3. Tyamine Kousa

Chapter Three: Tyamine Kousa

"Tatara!" Tokaki yelled as he transported to Tatara's side. He had arrived just seconds after Tatara fell, and already Kousa and Suzuno were nowhere to be seen. He felt dizzy and very exhausted. He had never used his power so much at one time. He thought he might pass out. "Tatara! Say something to me!"

Tokaki rolled Tatara's head over and checked his pulse.

"Suzuno..." Tatara whispered. Tokaki smiled.

"Oh good, you're alive."

As carefully as he could, he pulled Tatara out from underneath the horse. He layed him down and then looked at the horse. One of its legs were bent back awkwardly, and he knew the horse could be of no assistance to them again, even if it was still alive.

He wanted to go on then, but he couldn't get back up to his feet. He sat against a tree and watched the black spots in his eyes.

Failure.

Suzuno might be dead. He might never see her again. They were Shichi Seishi, protectors of the Byakko no Miko and they didn't even know where she was.

He couldn't protect anyone...

"Tokaki..." Tatara mumbled, holding his head and pushing himself into a sitting position. There was a bruise on his temple, but otherwise he was all right. "Where's Suzuno? Did you get her back?"

--

She heard a bang and then actually felt the darkness close in on her.

Kousa took his hand off of Suzuno's arm and began to light candles. His heart was racing, and he looked frightened, but not nearly as frightened as Suzuno felt.

She didn't move, she just looked around the small cave.

Behind her were the stairs they had come down, with a cellar door over them that was disguised to look like the forest floor. Only a trained eye would be able to find them. Before her the cave with on, with unlit torches along the wall, something Kousa was taking care of with two rocks.

After a couple of tries he lit a torch and grabbed it, then he grabbed Suzuno's arm and started dragging her down the hall.

"What are you going to do to me?" Suzuno asked with a shaking voice.

"I don' know." Kousa answered aggravated.

"Let me go then, I won't tell them where you are. I-"

"Shut up!" Kousa yelled and turned around to glare at her. He held her close and Suzuno could only look on with fear. "He'll kill him! He's insane! Did ya see what he did to my face!?!"

Kousa pointed to the cuts and bruises on his face, trying to wipe some off the drying blood, but his jacket, not only being dirty, also had its fair amount of blood on it from all the cuts he had ridding received through the forest.

"Like you would care, stuck up Miko like you..." Kousa dragged her into a room and sat her down on a chair. Then with the torches started lighting other candles and torches in the room. It was a small room, with nothing in it except a few broken chairs and the one Suzuno was sitting on.

"Why do you think I'm a Miko?" Suzuno asked cautiously, not wanting to give herself away in case he was just guessing.

"Wasn' hard ta figure out," Kousa said more calmly, standing by the wall. "Ya called him Tokaki. And then ya called that other guy Tatara. The Byakko Shichi Seishi. I'd say yer one of them, but," he pointed to her. "Yer clothes."

Suzuno closed the cloak around her that had opened a little to show her school uniform. It had been a horrible idea for her to wear the uniform. He might very well be an assassin from the North.

Kousa moved towards the entrance and then looked at her crossly. "Don' move." Then he walked out and left her alone.

Suzuno let out the breath she was holding. She wanted to panic but knew that she had to keep calm. Tokaki and Tatara were coming for her. Everything would be fine. They'd come for her. They'd save her.

As quietly as possible, Suzuno got out of the chair and went to the doorway. She looked both ways, no sign of Kousa... or anything. She couldn't see a thing without the light. Suzuno quickly went to the wall and grabbed a candle, then she went back to the doorway.

"I said: Don' move."

Suzuno almost dropped her candle.

"We're not gonna have a problem, are we?" He asked, walking forward, Suzuno backed up and found herself back at the chair. She sat.

"Are you from the North? Is that why Tokaki attacked you?"

Kousa looked at her for a second and then laughed. He stopped a moment to see if she was joking and then went back to laughing his heart out.

It was almost reassuring to see him laughing, but of course he could just be insane.

"Tokaki attacked me because he holds grudges," he said, looking up at the ceiling with a smile on his face. "But you're right, I am from the North. From the mountain, but I've lived down South since I was 9."

"The mountains? I ah... I don't know where that is."

Kousa looked at her oddly as he set down the bags he had obviously gone and collected from the horse. "Ya really are from another world. The whole country's filled with mountains. But up North are the real thing. Mount Taikyou"

Suzuno shrugged.

"Wow... That's crazy." Kousa said as he grabbed a shirt from one of the bags. He began to rip it up.

"You're crazy," Suzuno muttered silently.

"I'm crazy?" Kousa asked, looking a little annoyed. "I'm not the guy who jumped me fer no reason and tried ta kill me. I didn' want ta take you, but what else could I do?"

Kousa took off his jacket and the shirt he wore underneath. All his clothing were very torn, muddy and had blood stains from not just today. Though without his shirt on Suzuno couldn't help but notice his fine toned muscles and the fact that if he was washed up and wearing some new clean clothing, he would be very handsome.

"I can' believe that guy! I haven' seen him in two years, and he's still pissed as hell at me!"

"What did you do to him?"

Kousa paused. "Well, we got into a bit of a fight two years back. Well, actually I got into a fight with another guy and he got involved."

"You're the thief he was talking about!"

Kousa smiled. "So I'm famous, am I?"

"You tried to kill Tatara!" Suzuno yelled, getting to her feet.

"Kill?" Kousa looked dumfounded. "Lady, I' never tried ta kill anyone in my entire life!... I just tried ta steal his money.

"Look, sit down." Kousa said gently. "I don' wanna hurt ya, or tie ya up... Tomorrow we'll leave here."

Suzuno sat down. "Where is here anyway?"

"Used to be a bandits hide out... They're all gone now."

He said nothing else, just sat down and began to used the torn up shirt as bandages on his deeper cuts. She knew that he probably wouldn't sleep, and knew that she couldn't escape. But she also felt safe. She was sure that he wouldn't try to hurt her. Suzuno put the candle down beside her and tried to relax.

--

Suzuno woke to find herself lying on the floor, Kousa must have moved her onto the ground, and she felt something on her face, something warm, it kept coming and going... like someone licking her...

Quickly Suzuno shot up in fear and saw before her a small cat. It was white with black stripes, it reminded her of a small white tiger, but she knew it was nothing more than a cat. She petted in and smiled, it began to purr.

"Nothin', nothin', nothin'," Kousa said quickly to himself as he was throwing stuff out of the bags that had been on the horse. The horse was itself long gone.

"What are you doing!?" Suzuno asked, getting to her feet as she recognized him going through her bag. "Get out of there!"

"Ya got nothin' but paper," Kousa said looking at her. "I guess we can make a fire out of it-"

"No!" Suzuno yelled and grabbed on of her books out of Kousa's hands. "These are mine, and it's not just paper, they're my books!" She opened it. "Can't you see the writing!?!"

"Ya, ya," he said brushing her off. Suzuno noticed that Kousa had abandoned his other clothing and had changed into a pair of pants and a baggy sleeved shirt. Over it all he still had his beige jacket.

"I'll leave yer books alone... Hey what's this," Kousa said and grabbed something metal from the bag. "Ooo, a mirror. I' never seen a pretty one like this-"

Suzuno grabbed that from him as well. "Leave my stuff alone." She said with determination.

"Fine, whatever," Kousa pushed her bag aside and she started putting her things back into it.

Kousa went through the other bag and took what he deemed unnecessary (i.e. all of Tokaki's remaining clothing). He then took some bread and water for himself and for Suzuno. When finished eating he put the bag on.

"Let's go," he said standing up.

"Where?" Suzuno asked, not moving.

"North."

"North!?!" Suzuno jumped to her feet. "But I can't go-"

"Oi, don' worry so much... I'm not goin' that far, just to the border. I' gotta get to my friend Doulin. We can hide there."

"You should just let me go."

Kousa thought it over. "Not until I'm safe. C'mon. Let's go Byakko."

"Byakko?"

"The cat."

--

Tatara and Tokaki had found the horse an hour later, they had recovered enough to go on. The bags had been taken off. They could go on though, because they still had food from Tatara's bag. They looked all the rest of the day through the forest to no avail, when night fell they gave up.

When the morning came again they ate some food and started searching again, then they fond footprint leading North, with the horse in tow, they began to follow them.

--

"Let me burn one, it'll get the fire goin'."

"No way!"

Kousa put all the fire wood in a pile, a very small pile and looked on very unamused. "This won' last long."

"I don't care, these books are mine."

"What are so importan' about books anyway?" Kousa was trying to get the fire going with a few sticks.

They were currently back in the meadows, but there were rocks sheltering them from view if anyone were to walk by. Byakko, Kousa's cat was curled up beside him. She had spent most of the trip being carried in his shirt.

"Lots. There's stories in them and information, and-"

"Like what?" He asked as he finally got their small fire going.

"I have the very first novel ever written."

"What's a novel?"

Suzuno looked on shocked. "You don't know what a novel is? What year is it?"

"Lady, I've been in and out of jail's since I was ten. I have no clue what day it is."

"Well this is a novel," Suzuno rummaged through her bag and handed him one of the books.

Kousa took the book in his hand and turned it over, trying to figure out the scribbles all over it.

"What do these mean?"

"Oh right, I guess you wouldn't be able to read Japanese..."

"Yeah... Japanese... What's Japanese?"

"My language... Actually I don't get why we can speak the same language. I guess it's the power of the book. If it can bring me here, it can probably break the language barrier too." Suzuno began to contemplate it out-loud.

"Lady... I haven' a clue what yer talkin' about."

"It doesn't matter, give me my book back."

Kousa handed it back and stared at her for a moment.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm reading," Suzuno replied with a slight agitation. "That's what you do with books. You read them, not burn them, read them."

"Ok, I get it..." He paused for a second. "Reading what?"

"A novel." she stared at him awkwardly. "I just said that."

"Yeah, but what novel?"

"One I'm reading for school?"

"What happens in it?"

"A Prince falls in love."

"Tell me the whole story."

"What?"

"Nobody's ever told me a story."

"Your mother never told you a story?"

He looked away, hiding his face in the dark. "I didn't have a mother. My parents didn't want me..."

Suzuno paused. "Well I guess someone ought to." She cleared her throat and hen she began to read. "In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others..."

--

"They stayed here last night," Tokaki said as he kicked the remains of the fire. "We're not too far behind them."

"Do you think Suzuno is all right?"

"I can't tell, but I know she's still alive," Tokaki sounded fierce. I swear if he's hurt her I'll rip him limp for limb."

--

"Here we are," Kousa said with a smile as they stared at an inn. They had crossed through the desert that afternoon and had found themselves in another forest. Now they were in a small village. "Doulin works here, she can help us."

"It's a she?" Suzuno asked.

"Ya, so what?"

Suzuno shrugged with a smile. "Nothin'."

"She's just a friend." Kousa said, rolling his eyes. "C'mon."

The two walked into the inn.

Instantly Suzuno felt worried. The inn was filled with drunkards, singing, dancing, throwing up and looking just down right mean. Suzuno instinctively got closer to Kousa.

"Oi! Doulin!"

"Oh! Kousa! It's been so long!" Suddenly a young girl who looked to be only 17 ran up to Kousa, hugged him and began to kiss his cheeks. She had long white hair like Tokaki's and clear grey eyes. "Where were you!? What happened to you face!?! Your hair's so much longer now..." Doulin grabbed his ponytail and began to look over his hair.

"You should have seen my beard... Well, I was in jail again. But I'm out!" He said happily.

"Hey, you have a cat!" Doulin grabbed Byakko who was rubbing against her leg. "And who's this?" Doulin asked looking at Suzuno with a kind smile.

"Oh this... Well this is my small problem..."

Doulin sighed. "My parents always told me to keep away from you. Ever since I was five."

--

"You think they're here?" Tatara asked, eyeing the inn suspiciously. It looked the sort of place a criminal would hang out.

"Only one way to find out," Tokaki said, and with that stepped forward.

(Dun-dun duhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Isn't this fun!?! I hope you guys are starting to warm up to Kousa if you thought he was mean or anything. He isn't, he just has some serious issues, if you couldn't tell... Anyway, look, a familiar face! Doulin Yi... or should I say *Aoi jumps on me* C'mon LS, not everybody has figured it out. Ok, ok. Saved by the muse. Anyway, I will tell you this, big fight coming up for our heroes and our not so heroes - everyone's a hero in my world! I'm so happy that I got this far in the story. I was worried that I'd just write the first chapter and then give up on it, but something's pushing me on. Beware though, I might just lose interest. So give me lots of reviews to show that people actually like this story. Oh by the way, the novel that Suzuno begins to read is called Genji Monogatari - The Tale of Genji - it was written by 

Murasaki Shikibu, and it is considered to be the first novel ever written. Imagine that, the first novel ever was written by a woman! You should read it, and you should also read the Murasaki Diary, which if of course her diaries and while on the subject on Japanese literature written from the Heian period, read Makura no Soushi - The Pillow Book - by Sei Shounagon, such a romantic diary... *goes all dreamy* Aoi: You're insane LS... Banky: Oh you're one to talk!P.S. You guys see the Oscars? Go Adrian!)

Reviews:

Sister of Darkness: Whoa, you must be a little confused about what's going on then. Thanks for reading though!

Zebra-Frog: WOOHOO!!! Pocky!!! *Loves getting gifts* All this chocolate is going straight to me head. WEEEEEEEEEE!!!

arena .m: I'm on it.

Auryn: *Pats head* There you go getting your Gods mixed up again. *Shakes head* Don't feel sorry for Tokaki though, I have a grand ol' plan for him!

Sherry: You're praise is awesome and more than I deserve... but you called me Elsie you ding-bat! I bet you did that on purpose. Didn't you!?! DIDN'T YOU!?! Banky: Ha, Elise... *Hits Banky with frying pan* No good Muse...


	4. Shichi Seishi Subaru

Chapter Four: Shichi Seishi Subaru

"Oh wow! She's hot!" Tokaki exclaimed as he saw Doulin serving some beer to men who were beyond drunk.

"Keep focussed," Tatara said and walked up to the bartender.

"I can never ignore a pretty lady..." Tokaki said almost to himself, and then followed Tatara to the bartender.

"Excuse me, have you seen a man with long dirty blonde hair come in here with a girl about so high with long black hair?"

The bartender looked at them, his face monotone, he continued washing glasses. "Lots of people come in here."

"Yes, but did you see these two?"

He shrugged.

The two Seishi were beginning to lose patience.

"I don't suppose anybody else might have noticed them?"

"Yeah, Doulin could've."

"Oh good, where can we find her?" Tokaki asked.

The bartender paused a little, never looking away from Tatara. "I don't know."

--

"Poor kitty, all alone in that damp cave. Good thing Kousa came and found you," Doulin said, hugging the purring ball of fluff.

"I thought you could have her actually, I travel too much ta have a cat," Kousa said, eating the supper he and Suzuno had gotten. They were up in a room above the bar where Tatara and Tokaki were, at the moment.

"Really?" Doulin looked up at Kousa with a sweet smile. "That's so sweet."

"Maybe you should give her a different name," Suzuno suggested.

"What's wrong with Byakko?" Doulin asked sweetly, cuddling the cat.

"It's just such an off-name for a cat. Where did you come up with that anyway Kousa?"

Kousa shrugged. "She looks like Byakko. Little black an' white tabby cat... Besides, she seemed ta like the name."

"Are there cats from where you come from?" Doulin asked, looking up at Suzuno.

"Yeah... but I don't own one."

"It must be hard for you, being torn away from your world to come here and save us." Doulin said with a sad look in her eyes.

"It'll be better once I can get back to that..." Suzuno said looking back at Kousa.

"Oi, I'll be out of yer hair tomorrow when I can get outta here safely."

"Good, as fun as all this had been, I'll be glad once it's all over."

"Oh, Kousa's not so bad," Doulin said, pinching his cheeks.

"Oi, get off," Kousa said, pushing her hand away.

Doulin smiled. "Well, I have to get back to work. I'll talk to you later. Kousa, Miko," Doulin said with a little bow and a bit of a sarcastic smile.

--

"Excuse me miss, are you Doulin?"

"Eh?" Doulin turned around and felt her jaw drop. Before her stood Tokaki and Tatara, but she only noticed the one of them. She's never seen such a beautiful man before, white hair and gold eyes... her breath was just taken away.

"Miss?" Tokaki asked again, wondering if she wasn't perhaps a bumbling idiot, though a beautiful one.

"Ah yes, Doulin. Yi Doulin. And who are who?" She asked, staring intently into his eyes.

"My name is T- Hahm Lau'an, I was wondering if you haven't seen some friends of mine."

"Well I-"

"There was a girl, a little shorter than you, long black hair. Have you seen her come in with a man?" Tatara jumped in, anxious to learn if Suzuno was safe or not.

Doulin got a worried look in her eye, but quickly pushed it away. These men were here for Kousa, she had no doubt about it. "No, I don't think so, I haven't seen any girls come in all day," she plastered on a fake smile. "Maybe you should look through the rest of the village if they came this way. I hope you find her," then she quickly walked away, leaving the two men staring after her in annoyance.

"She's lying," Tatara said with determination, almost glaring after the girl.

Tokaki nodded, with a bit of a sigh. "It's always the beautiful women who stab you in the back."

Tatara ignored his friend. "C'mon, she's probably going to warm Kousa to run, we better follow," and then he quickly took off after the bar maiden.

--

"Kousa! Open up!" Doulin banged on the door, anxious for Kousa to come out.

Finally the door swung open and Kousa came face to face with her.

"Doulin, what's wrong?"

"There's some men here, someone named Hahm-" Doulin yelled, grabbing his arm.

"Hahm!?!" Kousa had a wild look of fear in his eyes. "Are ya sure!?!"

"Positive! He has white hair and came with someone else."

Suzuno perked up. "Tatara? They both came after me?" She felt a small smile form on her lips. They had come after her, to rescue her. She wasn't sure if she even needed rescuing, but the fact that they come...

"We have ta go, we have ta get out of here," Kousa went back into the room and began collecting his things.

"We? What do you mean we? You can go wherever you want but I-"

"I can'! I'm sorry but I can'!"

"Why not!?!" Suzuno yelled and got to her feet. "You can't do this to me! I don't want to be your stinking prisoner!"

"Yer not my prisoner-"

"Then let me go!"

"Kousa..." Doulin said from the doorway, she knew that Kousa was stressed and confused, but she couldn't let him take this girl against her will any longer. "You can run alone, I'll stall them..."

"I don' want ta be runnin' for tha rest of my life!" Kousa screamed, emotions running high. "I hate this!"

Then before anything else could be said or done, Tokaki suddenly appeared in front of Kousa and quickly pulled his fist back and punched him in the face.

"Kousa!" Doulin yelled and tried to run forward, but Tatara grabbed her from behind.

"Tokaki! Tatara!" Suzuno yelled in happiness. It was ok now, her Seishi... no, her friends were here now.

Tokaki though, wasn't finished. He jumped on the fallen Kousa and began to finish his job from before. Kousa was so beat up from the last time that he couldn't get the man off of him, nor could he properly block him. His old wounds opened and ached and new ones bled.

"Stop it! You're killing him! STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Doulin yelled and Tatara was suddenly thrown back. He fell against the wall and looked at her, everyone in the room looked at her and a white aura erupted around her. Her eyes went white.

"JI-KAN!"

The words came out and suddenly Tatara and Tokaki felt the world around them begin to distort, the room began to grow larger... No, they realised with fear, they were growing smaller.

Suddenly the aura around Doulin dissipated and she fell to her knees exhausted, then the room erupted into crying.

Kousa brought himself to his knees and starred at his chest where in Tokaki's clothing now layed a crying baby, he looked over at Doulin confused.

"Doulin... there somethin' ya forgot ta mention?"

Suzuno looked at the infant Tokaki on Kousa and then the infant Tatara behind Doulin. She was speechless, and confused, but then it all clicked.

"You're a Byakko Shichi Seishi..."

--

Kousa lay on the bed, newly re-bandaged and half conscious. After what had happened she quickly tended to him and left the two crying infants for Suzuno to watch until she could figure out what had happened.

Despite everything, Suzuno was staying relatively calm. She wrapped the infants in their shirts and layed them before her wondering if they could understand what has happening. All she knew for sure was that they couldn't speak.

While Doulin attended to Kousa she was mumbling half to herself, half to Suzuno.

"I'm not too sure where the words came from... I guess it's just something inside of me. Me, a Shichi Seishi. Honestly... that's so weird. I bet I can reverse it... maybe if I say it backwards. I'll try that."

After she was done with Kousa her and Suzuno put the clothing on the infants, in hopes that they would go back into them and not become naked before them (though secretly both thoughts the idea wouldn't be so bad).

"You sure this will work?" Suzuno asked just to make sure.

"Well... no surer than I was about how to do it in the first place. The words just kinda popped into my head."

"Just um... don't rush yourself. Concentrate," Suzuno said and then took a step back, dreading what might happen to her Seishi. She couldn't watch.

Doulin stood before the infants trying to remain calm. She started calling up whatever she had felt from before, and then suddenly she felt the aura around her, she felt a burning on her left breast and knew that it must be her character.

Then she started thinking about her missions. He had to bring these infants back to their status of men. She had to play with time once more.

"Kan-Ji!" She yelled and felt magic surround the room.

Suzuno peaked and saw white auras surrounding the men and then watched as before her eyes they began to grow until first Tokaki was back to normal and then Tatara.

The two men sat on the floor, their clothing on their bodies, staring at Doulin. They saw the character for 'Rise' on her breast.

"Subaru..." They both said in unison. Kousa groaned on the bed, probably from the fact that Tokaki was there once more.

"I did it!" Doulin, or rather Subaru jumped up and clapped her hands.

The two men got to their feet and thought over what had just happened.

"You can control time..." Tatara mumbled to himself, still in a bit of disbelief.

"What was it like to be infants again?" Suzuno asked from behind Subaru.

"Frustrating..." Tokaki said quietly.

"So what happens now?" Suzuno asked the uncomfortable looking group.

"Well, I'd imagine that Subaru comes with us and that-"

"What are you going to do with Kousa?" Subaru asked, cutting Tokaki off with a glare.

Tokaki looked at Kousa with dislike, and then looked back to Subaru. "I haven't decided yet."

"Well decide quickly, because if you lay one more finger on Kousa I'm not doing anything to help you."

"But Subaru!" Suzuno jumped in shocked. "You said it yourself, I'm here to save you. I need the Seishi for this."

Subaru looked at Suzuno with a little guilt. "I know... but I can't let him hurt Kousa."

"And I can't just let what he did to Suzuno go unpunished!

Subaru looked at Kousa sadly. "I know..."

"So what are we going to do?" Tatara asked, looking over the crowd.

--

"I did not agree ta this!" Kousa yelled, fiddling with his wrists that were bound together and tied to the saddle of Tokaki's horse. "This is inhumane!"

Tokaki glared dangerously at Kousa. "Would you prefer we do things my way bandit?"

Kousa shrunk back. "No..."

Subaru emerged from the bar with a small bag. She wore travelling clothes which consisted of a long brown skirt, a green shirt with a low cut, and a brown cloak that clasped around her neck and really hid nothing. Tokaki felt his blood run from his head.

Kousa leaned over to Tokaki as he stared at her.

"Oi Hahm," he said with narrow eyes. "Just what are ya looking at."

"Nothing!" Tokaki glared and Kousa shrunk back again. To avoid any more annoyance, Tokaki went over to Tatara.

"So just what are your plans?" Tatara asked as he looked over the wildlife about the town that he hadn't had time to see the night before.

"We'll go back to the capital and I'll throw him back in jail where he belongs."

"That sounds a little harsh."

"Nothing that that bandit doesn't deserve."

"Lau'an... he had nothing to do with-"

"Don't. It doesn't matter."

Then Tokaki walked away and went back into the bar to find Suzuno.

Meanwhile, Subaru walked over to Kousa.

"Lucky you, get to rid the horse!" She said with a big smile.

"Henh," Kousa smiled bitterly as he held up his wrists. "I don' need this."

"Well better this than let that... man beat you beat you up anymore."

"He's gonna throw me back in jail ya know... I'll be gone for a lot longer than two years this time."

Subaru put her hand on his leg reassuringly. "Don't worry Kousa, I won't let him do that."

Not too long after Tokaki and Suzuno came out with their food and once that was on the horse the five of them set out South for the capital.

(Oh wow! There are a lot of RPGs dedicated to Byakko! I've been searching the web for a while now since I started writing this fic to see if there was any information Miss Yuu wrote that I haven't seen, but I've only found tons and tons and tons of RPGs. It's insane! As far as those RPGs go, I've decided not to look at any of the character profiles, I looked at one and it was the exact opposite of what I'm working with, but I think I may have read it because a lot of it seemed familiar. So, for the sake of wanting this story to be my very own, the four Seishi - Amefuri, Toroki, Kokie and Karasaki - will be mine, I haven't taken them from anywhere else, and that's all there is to it. Now to complain about the chapter. It was so hard to get Suzuno and Kousa's relationship right, I wanted there to be an uneasiness between them to show that under any other circumstances they would be friends, but because of what's happening she's pretty angry at him, Now, in the anime you never see Subaru do her little time spell, it's always off screen or just talked about, so I took som liberties by giving her a phrase to say - a la Tasuki. When translated, 'Ji-Kan' literally means 'Time'. It doesn't have to be separated like that, I just did it for effect.

Review:

Sherry: Moowhahahaha! My plan is coming into effect! Death by suspense!!!


	5. Shiroishi

Chapter Five: Shiroishi

"So which are ya sweet on, 'cuz yer starin' at both like a starved dog," Kousa inquired as Tokaki sat before him holding some food.

"You really don't want this do you?"

"You can' starve me."

"Can't I?" Tokaki asked and looked none too pleased.

The five of them had spent the whole day travelling and now were in camp as the sun began to set. Tatara, Suzuno and Subaru sat around the fire as Tokaki came over to feed Kousa who was now tied to a tree. Byakko was curled up in his crossed legs.

Tokaki took a bite out of the meat meant for Kousa.

"Doulin! He's eatin' my food!"

Subaru sighed. "You're such a rat Tokaki." She grumbled at him annoyed.

"I am not," Tokaki turned his head to protest and Kousa leaned forward and bit out of the meat. "Mongrel!" Tokaki yelled and let go of the food, Kousa picked it up in his bound hands and began eating.

"Like I care..."

"Meow..."

"No Byakko, we probably shouldn't kill him in his sleep."

Tokaki turned back to Kousa, his eyes alive with hatred. Tatara looked on uncertain of weather he should say something.

"Watch your mouth bandit..." Tokaki hissed and then went to sit beside Tatara.

"I'm not a bandit..." Kousa whispered to himself.

Kousa tensed then. He thought he heard a noise coming from in the woods, and he wasn't the only one. Suddenly the camp went silent at Tokaki shushing them mid-sentence. They strained their ears to hear if someone unwanted was in the woods.

"Just my luck," Kousa thought to himself. "We're being ambushed and I don't have a weapon. And if some bandit doesn't kill me, I still have jail to look forward to." Despite his worries though, Kousa made no attempt to free himself from his bonds.

Suddenly a cloak figure walked into the light and instantly Tokaki and Tatara were on their feet headed for him. Suzuno gave a cry of alarm, but before the violence began, the cloaked figure threw back his hood and held his hands up in a motion of peace.

"I mean no harm!" He yelled, just before Tokaki could land his blow.

The two seishi backed off, but remained ready to strike him at any moment.

"What do you want?" Tokaki asked almost violently.

"I saw your fire, I merely wanted to see who was here?"

"Are you travelling?" Subaru asked, walking forward with a smile.

The man smiled back at her, his face showing a kind warmth. "Yes." He answered. Subaru walked past the two men. "My name is Yi Doulin, this is Hahm and Tsounie," she said, turning to Tokaki and Tatara. "That's Suzuno by the fire," Suzuno gave a little wave and a smile. "And that's Kousa, um... sitting by the horses."

Kousa looked the man over once and turned away with a 'feh'.

"And you are?" Tokaki suddenly asked, not liking the idea of this man knowing their names when they didn't even know if he was evil or not.

"My name is Shiroishi."

"Shiroishi?" Tatara asked. "That doesn't sound like a real name."

"It is the name I have given myself." They looked the man over. He was tall with light blue eyes and black hair. His figure was slim and fit, and he looked to be only around 17. The cloak he wore was white. The boy didn't seem to be a threat at all.

Tokaki finally relaxed. "You can join us if you want, for the warmth."

"Oh fine! Let the perfect stranger by the fire! Keep me all the way out here."

"Only so I don't have to stare at your disagreeable face!" Tokaki snapped at him.

"You'll have to ignore Hahm, he's a bit of a nuisance really. Good company is so hard to find," Subaru said with a wink and took Shiroishi by the arm, taking him towards the fire.

Tokaki glowered at the motion, feeling a strange protectiveness over Subaru. He muttered a few inaudible comments and then went to sit down with the rest of them.

"Where are you travelling?" Suzuno asked, wanting to learn more about this stranger.

"Well if you must know."

"Oh I must, I must," Suzuno said with a smile.

Shiroishi smiled back. "I'm heading South, to the capital."

"Really? Any particular reason?" Tatara asked.

"Family," Shiroishi answered, giving him an almost cold answer. "And where are you travelling?"

"The capital," Tatara replied shortly.

"Uh, do you travel much?" Suzuno asked, trying to break the tension.

"No," Shiroishi gently answered. "This is the first time I've travelled."

"Me too." The two smiled at each other, both feeling that they could trust the other.

--

The night waned on and the travellers spoke for awhile of unimportant matters, neither giving away their purposes or past. The three Seishi and Miko finally went to sleep, Tatara staying close to Suzuno, while Tokaki inched towards Subaru.

Shiroishi stayed awake, watching the fire burn, and Kousa stayed awake keeping an eye on Shiroishi. He did not trust him.

When Shiroishi was sure the others were awake he suddenly looked up at Kousa with a sharp glance. Kousa felt the hair's on the back of his neck stand on end. There was something about this man that all the others had missed. He looked young, and yet seemed so old at the same time. There was wisdom there... this man knew something that perhaps he shouldn't.

"You don't have family in the capital... do you?" Kousa asked, unable to stand Shiroishi's glance any longer.

Shiroishi said nothing, and instead stood up and walked over to Kousa, taking a seat beside him, his eyes never leaving the pick-pocket.

"I do not."

Kousa almost smiled in victory.

"But you... you have deceived them far greater than I have."

Kousa's smile faded away. "What are ya talkin' about?" Byakko's ears went back, as is she were listening to their conversation.

"You could get out of the bonds at any time... couldn't you?"

There was something in Shiroishi's eyes that told Kousa that he couldn't lie to him, because he already knew everything about him, and the thought frightened him.

"Yeah..." Kousa finally answered.

Shiroishi leaned in, accusation set in his eyes.

"You're trying to stop them from summoning Byakko, Northlander."

Kousa's eyes were open wide in shock. "What are ya talki'g about? I don' care if they succeed or not," Kousa was almost yelling.

"Your secret will not remain one. They will see your true colours. Then what will you do? Kill the girl? Stop the ceremony?"

"You have no idea what yer talkin' about," Kousa practically spat at him, inching closer to him. "I suggest, ya leave this place."

"And leave them alone with you? I don't think so."

Kousa lunged at him, his hand's no longer bound. Shiroishi hadn't even seen it be done. Suddenly Kousa was on him, throttling him, but Shiroishi was too strong for him, he kicked Kousa in the stomach and sent him flying. Byakko was awake then, hissing at Shiroishi.

The other's were waking and Kousa tried to get back onto his feet and fight Shiroishi, but he was suddenly tackled from behind. Shouts erupted around him and Kousa realised that they were under attack.

"Bandits!" Tokaki hissed and quickly had his sword out. He wasted no time, and began fighting them as fast as they came. But there were far too many of them. Tokaki couldn't figure out where they had come from.

Suzuno woke up confused, she could hear fighting and some grunts, but wasn't too sure what was going on. Suddenly she was pulled to her feet by Tatara. He looked into her eyes for a mere second.

"Bandits, stay close."

Bandits, and dozens of them, all around, but although they came in waves they weren't trying to kill any of them, even Suzuno saw that and suddenly she feared that they were after her. These were the Northlanders.

Suzuno scanned the crowd for Kousa, but she couldn't find him. Had he led them here? Was he actually a bandit? Suzuno wanted to be sad, she had almost trusted Kousa, but there was no time to think.

Trees and plants suddenly came to life, picking up the bandits and throwing them to the ground unconscious. Tokaki teleported himself from bandit to bandit, taking them by surprise, taking their life without even thinking and moving to the next and the next. There was just no end to the bandits.

Subaru seemed able to handle herself, blocking blows easily enough. Suzuno wanted to help her, but knew that if she left Tatara that she'd be completely vulnerable, so she stayed by his side terrified.

Then Subaru was thrown to the ground, her head hitting a rock. Suzuno called out her name, and Tatara turned his attention over to her. He began concentrating the trees there to protect her and Suzuno started running towards her, wanting to help her.

"Suzuno! Wait!" Tatara called, he lost his concentration on the plants and went after her, but it was too late.

A man suddenly grabbed Suzuno and held a sword to her neck.

"Stop! Or she dies!"

Tatara stopped dead in his tracks and almost immediately afterwards so did Tokaki, both staring at Suzuno in fear.

Despite the fear she was suddenly thrown into, Suzuno also felt annoyance. This was the second time that she was being held hostage, and she hated it all the more.

"You bandit scum! You followed Tyamine here, didn't you?! He led you right to us! I'll kill him!" Tokaki began yelling, surveying the young and dirty faces around him.

Tatara ignored him, looking around at the bandits as well, noticing for the first time just how young there were, all were probably in their teens. He couldn't understand what a band of teens could possibly want with the Miko.

"What are you blabbering about?" A woman's voice suddenly came from the woods and a woman with long brown hair held back by a braid, and a bandana on her head, stepped through the crowed from Suzuno's right side. She had deep blue eyes and wore bandit clothing like all the rest. "Who in the world is Tyamine?"

Behind her there was a young teenager with short blond hair and fierce grey eyes. She held a spear and looked as if she was waiting for one of them to make a move, so that she could attack them.

"If you're not here for Tyamine? Then what do you want!?!" Tokaki yelled at them, trying desperately to ignore how beautiful the woman was. Suddenly his mind flashed to Shiroishi. Were they here for him? He looked around the crowd, he couldn't see him anywhere, but there struggling in the arms of two bandits was the now badly bleeding Kousa.

"Well I thought that one was obvious," she walked towards Suzuno and lifted her chin. "My name is Chi, these are my bandits... and I wanted to meet your dear Byakko no Miko," she turned back to Tatara and Tokaki. "And her precious seishi."

She turned to leave. "Tie them up."

"I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Tokaki screamed after her, but everything was in vain.

They had been captured.

(Oh my God! It's been so long! So way back when I promised a chapter a week, but then I lost faith in my story and gave up, but I recently regained interest and here is the fifth chapter! I had a lot of problems with this chapter, writing for Suzuno was a big one. I hate to say it, but damn she's boring. Tatara too. I like writing Tokaki, Subaru and Kousa the best, but hopefully that will change down the road. I love all of the characters so far, and all the ones to write, but it's very hard to give equal parts to all these different characters. The best course is probably to separate them... Hum... I should consider that. So expect a lot of fighting here on in, and perhaps a lot of heart break. I'm not exactly a happy writer, and listening to The Return of the King soundtrack is making me think up more sad scenes. So was my cliffhanger obvious enough for you? The Byakko people are captured, Kousa is being accused of being an enemy and Shiroishi who is uncertain to begin with had suddenly disappeared. Oh when will the madness end!?! Chapter eight I think. :) Some info on Shiroishi: his name used to by Aoishi, but I though Shiroishi sounded cooler, though Aoishi still sounds cool... It's all good, but I had to pick one. Can't tell you any more, of else I'd be spoiling you! By the by, sorry about Kousa's accent, I kinda gave up on it. It took me so long to write this chapter - April, May, June, July, September, October, November, December and now it's January - that I couldn't be bothered to fix it or even to edit this chapter. I need to write while things are still fresh in my mind, and then I can go back and fix things. Probably not that great for you readers, but look at it this way: There's no other way I could possibly write this story. I am not a linear person!)

Reviews:

Abby-normal: My new favourite word is now 'nifteriffic'.

Fukai Tsumi: Thanks! I'll try not to be... though it's hard...

Azn-saphirestar: Thanks so much for the review!

Hydra-Star: Yeah, I love them Gembu folk as well... but there something about Byakko that just makes me wanna write.


	6. Shichi Seishi Amefuri

Chapter Six: Shichi Seishi Amefuri

"We need to assess the situation," Subaru said calmly. Her, Tokaki and Tatara were locked in a small grey room, their hands were bound behind their backs.

"What is there to assess? We need to find Suzuno and get out of here," Tokaki started speaking quickly. "I can teleport, go looking for Suzuno and take us out of here."

"No way! You wanna leave Kousa!" Subaru snapped. "We can't do that!"

"He'll be fine with his own kind."

Tatara sat quietly in the corner as the two argued. He could only think about Suzuno, her beautiful hair, soft face, her kind smile... He needed to find her, he wanted to save her... to be with her. He would do anything for her.

"Can you teleport somewhere you've never been?" Tatara suddenly asked, looking at Tokaki. "What if you teleport into a wall?"

Tokaki thought about it for a few minutes. "I've never really tried anything like that, but I'm sure I could get to the other side of the wall."

"No, we need to think of something else."

"I'll risk it for Suzuno." Tokaki insisted

"No, we need you in one piece," Tatara said the words, wanting to keep his friend away from harm, but deep inside himself he wanted very badly to risk everything to find Suzuno. But no, he needed to think logically. He couldn't keep letting his heart get in his way.

"I could turn you into a baby again, that would get you guys out of your ropes."

Both Tatara and Tokaki nodded. "Just be quick about it, I wasn't very fond of it the last time..." Tokaki mumbled.

"You guys just try to not cry, that will bring every bandit to this room."

Subaru took a deep breath, trying to bring the power back. She wasn't sure if she could do it again, but then she felt the mark begin to burn with power and she knew it was in her. It always had been there deep inside of her, ready for her use.

"JI-"

The door suddenly opened and Subaru felt a sharp blow to her jaw.

"Stop that!" They recognized the voice and then they saw the cold face of Chi. "I won't have you using your powers on me." Chi looked back. "Jian."

The younger blond girl from before entered the room and brought with her Suzuno, also bound. Then she threw Suzuno into the room with the rest, her spear raised in anticipation.

"What do you want!?!" Tokaki screamed at the girls, ready at any moment to transport beside them and easily kill them both.

"What do I want?" Chi asked, thinking the matter over. "Nothing you can give me."

"What do you want with the Miko?" Tatara asked, getting to his feet and walking over to Suzuno.

"Have you ever heard of what will happen when Byakko is summoned?"

"I get three wishes," Suzuno blurted out.

Chi rolled her eyes. "You will summon the wrath of Byakko!"

"What?"

"Byakko already came to this world, but you in the south killed him. Haven't they told you this Miko? Or have they told you that it is a lie? My father believes it to be true, and so do I, so I shall wait for him to come and decide what is best," then she turned and left, Jian at her heals.

The door closed and Suzuno looked back at the Seishi in confusion. "What was she talking about?

Tatara sighed. "She's talking about why the North and South are at war."

"Tell me, I need to know these things."

He nodded. "Sit," the two sat down. "Years and years ago, before any who now live were born, a man and woman fell in love. He was from the South, a mighty and most loved Prince and she was a Lady from the North.

"They met and fell in love instantly. Every year he would return to her in secret, for he was not allowed to marry until he was older. Their love had to remain a secret until the proper year approached.

"When the year finally came their marriage was announced and all were happy... but then it was discovered that the Lady was pregnant. The Prince could not understand how such a thing was possible, and when her family asked she said it was Byakko who grew in her stomach.

"Her story was so believable that she managed to convince all those Lords in the North... but the Prince was not convinced. He knew that she had loved another and refused to believe that it was Byakko, and the South followed him.

"Before the baby was to be born, the Prince came for her, wanting her to speak the truth. They began to fight and she ran away to the mountains, but he followed, wanting to love her still...

"She fell to her death, and the Prince stood above on the rocks and saw his true love die with the baby inside. The North was furious! They said that the Prince had killed Byakko and a war began that never finished. They believed then that if Byakko was ever to be summoned that he would destroy Xi-Lang and all who inhabit it."

Tatara fell silent.

"It's so sad... What happened to the Prince?" Suzuno asked in a sad voice.

"Died," Tokaki said. "He couldn't live without his Lady."

"Will the bandit's kill us...?"

"I-"

"AHHHHHH!!!" The wretched scream came from outside the door, they all looked at the door in fear as it opened and suddenly Kousa was thrown in. He screamed again, covered in blood. The four of them knew that he had been hurt badly yet again.

"Shut up ya pathetic piece of shit!" The bandit yelled and closed the door, but not before saying that he'd be back for another one of them.

Kousa curled into a ball, his hand were bound as well, but his were in front of him.

"Kousa!" Subaru yelled. "Are you alright!?!" She came forward, wishing that she could reach out and touch him. "Are you hurt bad!?! Say something!!!"

"Doulin...?" He asked meekly.

"Yeah, I'm here Kousa."

"Why does everyone feel tha need ta kick tha shit outta me...?"

"Because you're despicable," Tokaki muttered.

"Shut up!" Subaru yelled, looking at Tokaki with such hate suddenly that he felt he had to turn away. "You're all so mean to him! Just leave him alone!" Tears were rimming her eyes. "He's hurt and he needs help!!!"

"Kousa..." Suzuno whispered. "Kousa."

"Suzuno... I gotta tell ya somethin'," Kousa said, looking at Suzuno, his right eye was red from a cut on his brow. "I gotta tell ya somethin' important..." His eyes went out of focus, looking up at the ceiling.

Suzuno felt her heart stop. He looked up at the ceiling, his breathing shallow, his poor broken and bleeding body... She thought she might cry out of pity. She knew in her heart that Kousa wasn't a bad person, he had just made wrong decisions. He was good, she knew it.

"I lied to ya..." He whispered, finding her face again. "I lied..."

Tokaki glared at him, wanting to say something, but bit his tongue for Subaru's sake.

"What are you talking about Kousa? When did you lie?" Subaru asked.

Kousa kept on talking as if he hadn't heard her. "That Shiroishi guy... he knows me, I never met him... but he knew..." Kousa smiled bitterly. "I've betrayed ya all." He looked at Subaru. "I was tryin' to run Doulin... Tryin' to hide..." Kousa's eyes closed and he stopped moving.

"Kousa? Kousa!?!" Subaru yelled, wanting to shake him. "SAY SOMETHING!!!"

Tatara looked at him closely. "He's alive, he's just asleep."

"Are you sure!?!"

"Yes," Tatara nodded. "He's alive."

"I don't understand what he was saying about himself and Shiroishi... and betraying us???" Suzuno thought that she might cry. How could he have betrayed them, he was a good person. He had to be a good person!

"Him and Shiroishi told the bandits about us," Tokaki said.

"No!" Subaru yelled. "He wouldn't do that to us! To me!"

"Face the facts! He just confessed! Your friend is a cold-blooded bandit!"

"NO!" Subaru yelled and rammed her shoulder into Tokaki.

Tokaki teleported to the other side of the room, leaving his bonds behind. He stood and glared down at Subaru. "You're a fool," he said quietly. She began to sob, her face falling to the ground and suddenly Tokaki felt guilty. He should have been nicer, for whatever reason that was her friend... but she had to move on.

"We have Suzuno, so we should leave," Tokaki said, bending over and undoing Tatara's bonds. He looked over at the two crying women and then at the unconscious Kousa. He suddenly wasn't sure if they should leave him or not.

Tatara was thinking the same thing. "What about Kousa?"

Tokaki looked long and hard at Subaru's beautiful features, twisted into a sad face. He hated that look on her, it pained him to see it. "We take him with us, he can face the judge."

Tatara nodded, standing up and undoing Suzuno's bonds. He held her sore wrists his hands, caressing the bruised flesh. Suzuno felt herself blushing as he gently lifted her onto her feet, and so she quickly looked away.

"Subaru... I'm sorry," Tokaki said, undoing her bonds. "I didn't mean to be so harsh." He lifted her to her feet. Subaru shook her head and wiped her tears away, her beautiful face emerging.

"It's alright... I'll be fine," her face was stern, the light in her eyes seemed dimmed.

"All right, I'll transport first. I've seen outside the door, so there won't be any problems. We'll do this one at a time," he looked down at Kousa. "And we'll all leave."

Everyone nodded and suddenly Tokaki disappeared. Then suddenly he was back again and took Tatara's arm. "You first."

They disappeared, but then Tokaki came again for Suzuno, then Subaru and finally he came back for Kousa. He leaned down and gently slapped Kousa's face. Kousa twitched and then opened his eyes.

"Don't look so scared to see me," Tokaki said. "I'm actually here to save you."

"Oh my Byakko... I'm dead aren' I? This would never happen in tha real world..." Kousa muttered silently, teetering on the edge of consciousness.

"Shut up and let's go," Tokaki grabbed his arm and suddenly the two were in the hallway.

"Left or right?" Tatara asked, looking down the hallways.

"We came in from the left," Tokaki said, remembering when they had been dragged in there. In had been dark, but he was pretty sure that he remembered what way they had come from. He was fairly certain that he could lead the group out safely. "Help me carry this weasel," Tokaki and Tatara both grabbed one of Kousa's shoulder's and began dragging him down the hallway. Suzuno and Subaru were both trying to ignore the pain Kousa was in.

"This place is like a maze," Tatara remarked, wishing they could see better, the place was so badly lit.

"We're doing fine," Tokaki reassured him.

They suddenly came to a large room, full of lights. There on the other end they saw the door, the exit they had been looking for. And there in the middle of the room was the band of bandits.

"Oh for the love of," Tokaki began, and quickly propped Kousa against the wall and teleported away. He wasted no time in fighting them.

The call went up in the bandits as they noticed that they were being attacked. Tatara and Subaru then jumped into the fray.

Kousa leaned against the wall, barely able to make out the forms before him, and having a harder time trying to stay standing. He couldn't keep his eyes on Tokaki because he was continuously teleporting, but he managed to see Tatara and Subaru fighting.

Tatara was using the fact that they were underground to his advantage. Roots were growing out of the ceiling, ensnaring bandits. Subaru was using her powers. Bandits would come at her and then suddenly become small infants or elderly men and women.

Suzuno was by Kousa, keeping her distance from the fighting and continuing to look at Kousa, trying to figure out what he had been talking about before. Had he really betrayed them? She didn't think so, it just wasn't possible.

Then fight seemed to be coming to a close. This time the Seishi had the upper hand. But the fight wasn't over. As Kousa watched on he suddenly noticed a figure standing, looking at him. And then the figure threw something... a knife.

Kousa barely had any time to react.

Suzuno looked over and just had time to hear Kousa scream and the knife hit his stomach. Kousa's hands were on the hilt, fear in his eyes.

"Oh Byakko," he mumbled and fell to the ground.

"KOUSA!!!" Suzuno screamed, rushing to his side. But his eyes were closed, his breathing un-evident. Tyamine Kousa was dead. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Suzuno screamed, tears were streaming down her face, not caring what he might have done. All she could see was the young man who she read to one night, a man who seemed lost and sad and unloved. A man who did not deserve to die.

Suddenly Chi ran into the room from another entrance, Jian at her heels along with dozens of other bandits. Chi looked like she might kill them all.

"GET THEM BACK IN THE ROOM!!!" She screamed, taking out a sword and charging.

Before Chi reached them though, the entrance to the cave swung open. All eyes looked to the door and there stood a figure robed in white. Shiroishi.

"KAZE COME FORTH!!!" He yelled and suddenly a burst of wind surged through the door, knocking the bandits back. Shiroishi swept down the stairs, hitting the bandits. His cloak fell from his shoulders and Tatara and Tokaki gasped at what they saw. There on the back of his left shoulder, shining even thought his grey tunic, was the sign for 'Rain Net'. This was the fourth Shichi Seishi, Amefuri.

The tide had turned in the Seishi's favour once more.

(I liked writing this chapter. I just loved all the inner-conflict going on it it. Hell, there's conflict in this chapter that you guys don't even know about, but you guys will figure it out soon enough. Moowhahahahaha!!! I gotta tell you guys, this Fic is something of an effort on my part. I mean, I love writing these characters and coming up with mythology, but I keep thinking that nobody reads this and I'm just writing it for nothing. So I would like to take the times to thank azn-saphirestar, Hydra-Star, Fukai Tsumi, Abby-normal, arena .m, Sister of Darkness and Aoi Dragon Aoi: I love their name!(the rest of you guys I forced to review). Your reviews really meant a lot of kept me going, otherwise I would have abandoned a long time ago. So this story is for you guys! *Hugs and Tatara plushies all around* Well maybe now I should talk a bit more about this chapter. Poor Kousa, he just got more and more hurt until... well I feel sorry for Kousa. My first real creation in this book and I'm not very nice to him. I'm having lots of fun writing the Subaru/Tokaki relationship, he likes her but doesn't want to admit it and she likes him but also hates him. Very angsty, the best kind. I'm having lots more fun with them also because Tatara and Suzuno have such fish love. Fish love I say! But I'm doing my best to not make it boring. You guys like so far? Well I should stop rambling, again, sorry this isn't edited yet, but it's a lofty work in process... Eh, I'm lazy. But it will happen! Ok, thanks you guys so much! You are my reasons for writing!)

Review:

azn: Thank you for not giving up on me! I think you're the only one!


	7. Shichi Seishi Toroki

Chapter Seven: Shichi Seishi Toroki

Suzuno watched in wonder and excitement as Shiroishi - no, Amefuri tore through the bandits, saving them all... but she wasn't happy. As she knelt by the dead body of Kousa, she was reminded that people were dying, and they were dying because she was here.

If she had never been looking around in her father's study, had she just ignored that book, had that book, that curse not been made, these people would still be alive. Hot tears stung her face as she watched them fight. She looked down at Kousa, her vision blurry, he was just a mass of blood. Once he had lived, had felt. She wanted to know him then, she wanted to know what had happened to him in the past... She wanted to know why he was now dead.

"MIKO!" Suzuno looked up at saw Amefuri looking at her. "Watch out!"

To her left she then saw Jian running towards her, her spear aimed right for her chest. Her mind screamed at her to run, but her shock and fear kept her glued to the ground and then in the blink of an eye a body came and smashed into Jian, throwing her into the wall.

"Fucking bitch," Subaru muttered, staring down at the unconscious body, then she turned to Suzuno with a smile on her face. "Keeping out of trouble...?" Her voice trailed off as she saw Kousa's body lying crumpled to the ground. She took a step forward, not sure if what she was seeing was real.

"He's dead," Suzuno whispered, more tears coming to her face.

Subaru took another step forward, and then Jian's leg swung out and tripped her. Jian screamed in range as she leaped onto her feet, her eyes scanning for her dropped spear. She saw it a few feet away from her, and then suddenly Subaru tackled her again and the two fell to the floor.

"YOU KILLED HIM!!! YOU ALL KILLED HIM!!!" Subaru screamed, her anger so intense that she couldn't even think about using her powers, but her blows were doing a good enough job, each found their mark onto Jian's face and sent shockwaves of pain through her body, blood running down her face. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

Suzuno could only watch in fear, Subaru had transformed so suddenly in front of her eyes. One moment she had been the kind and playful Subaru that she had known... and now, now she was possessed by anger. And it was because of her, it was all because of her.

--

Tatara was on the other side of the room, and felt a surge of anger rush through him as the bandits kept circling him. He found himself losing patience, he found himself becoming more violent. Roots now reached down through the ceiling and when they ensnared a bandit, they would crush him. They would barely have a time to scream before their body parts were snapped apart and a river of blood splattered onto those nearby.

Blood covered the entire cave, the Seishi and bandits found themselves were all bleeding from one or more wounds. The death toll was constantly growing. Tatara was coming to realise that they might have to kill every single bandit in this cave. It was a gruesome thought, but it did not slow Tatara down.

Chi surveyed the cave and her heart quailed at the sight. It was turning into a slaughter. Her right-hand woman had run off to fight, and now she looked around alone. What would her father say when he saw this? He had only ever given her this one chance.

"Find me the Byakko no Miko. Prove your love and loyalty to me... daughter." Those were the words that rung through her head, the words her father had told her the last time they had ever spoken, saying the word 'daughter' as if it were poison. He had given her a chance, and she had ruined it all.

Her fear and sadness quickly turned to anger as she spotted Tokaki fighting a bandit. She marvelled at how he could teleport, but it made no difference. If he didn't see her coming, she could easily kill him.

She took off running, not muttering a sound and she came upon the despicable Seishi, raising her sword, ready to strike.

Tokaki's elbow flew backwards, his combat training not failing to sense Chi creeping up on him, hitting Chi in the gut. She felt the wind get knocked out of her and quickly took a few steps back, trying to catch her breath.

"How?" She breathed out.

Tokaki turned around and smiled egotistically. "Because I'm the best," he said, breathing hard, and kicked her in the stomach, sending her backwards, but Chi recovered much quicker than Tokaki had expected and soon she was attacking him once more.

"Move faster," Tokaki said playfully, having teleported behind her, he punched her in the shoulder blade and Chi quickly turned around, the sword swinging through the air. Tokaki teleported away, but when he reappeared she heard him yell.

Chi quickly swung her head around and saw him holding his right arm. She had managed to cut him, and that made her smile as she charged him once more.

Tokaki was tired, and he knew it, and he was trying to best to hide it, but the more he teleported, the worse he felt. He couldn't fight her, and he knew that too, but he thought he might stand a chance if she didn't realise that fact. He had to keep moving, he had to kill her before he collapsed from exhaustion. His breathing was ragged, his limbs hurt, and still he fought on, landing kick and punch after kick and punch.

Chai's blade seemed to be moving faster, almost taking his head off at every turn. No matter where Tokaki teleported to, she seemed to have her sword ready. She was beginning to learn his every move, to learn where he would be before Tokaki had even made up his mind to move there. She was an incredible fighter, and Tokaki couldn't help but notice that if she wasn't evil, she'd be amazingly sexy.

"Why are you doing this!?!" Tokaki yelled, trying to throw her off with words rather than force. His eyes were blurring, he could barely keep up with her. It was a losing battle.

"Because the Miko is evil!" Chi lunged, but not fast enough, and she suddenly felt a blow to her side.

"She's here to save us!"

"IT'S A LIE!!!" She screamed, and to Tokaki's horror, her blade pierced his shoulder. Tokaki screamed and fell to his knees. That blow had done it, he was finished.

Chi raised her sword over her head, knowing that she had won. "We are the summoners of a great evil," she sneered and her sword started to fall. To Tokaki, everything seemed to go still. The world was moving in slow motion, and as his entire life started to flash before his eyes, and the good times and bad times all ran together, one thing shone out from them all. One thing... One person... Subaru...

He teleport away, the sword went into the ground. Tokaki fell to the ground beyond exhausted, Subaru's smiling face still in his mind. Why? Why was she there?

"Stay in place won't you!?!" Chi grabbed Tokaki's hair, his eyes were rolled into the back of his head. "You are going to die!!!"

Tokaki looked at her in confusion. "Why did you say 'we'?" He asked softly. Chi's eyes went wide with shock. She'd said too much, but that didn't matter. She brought her sword up to his neck and was about to slit it, and then she suddenly flew off of him.

Tokaki's head fell hard on the ground as Amefuri swept passed him and began to fight with Chi. Chi's words bounced around in his head. We are the summoners of a great evil. We the bandits? No, Tokaki told himself. He knew what she meant, but couldn't understand how or why. She meant we the Seishi. Chi was a Shichi Seishi. That's why she was such an amazing fighter.

Amefuri was having no trouble fighting her, Tokaki had succeeded in tiring her out at least. He wanted to stay lying there, barely able to move and let her die... but he couldn't do that... They needed her.

"Don't kill her!!!" He yelled, Amefuri's head turned around in confusion. He had Chi on the floor, he was about to kill her. They didn't need her.

With everything left in him, Tokaki got to his feet. "She's one of us... she's a Seishi..." he fell back down.

"NO! I'M NOT!!! JUST KILL ME!!!" Chi yelled, punching Amefuri in the gut. "OR GET OFF!!!"

Amefuri grabbed her wrists and looked deep into her eyes, then he looked up at her bandana and in one swift movement, took it off of her head and there was the character for turtle snout, just barely shining through. This was Toroki.

Suddenly the character flared to life and Chi threw Amefuri off. Her want to suppress her powers no longer needed, because they knew. Whatever her anger had been before, had doubled.

Tatara saw her character get unveiled, and thought for one fleeting second that the fight was over, that there was no more worry, but the fight was not over. They had found a Seishi, but she was still their enemy.

He ran forward, joining the fight to restrain Chi by Amefuri's side, trusting him enough that he was sure they could fight together. Their movement were like liquid, they seemed to know each other, their powers were used together seamlessly, like they had always known each other. But it was the same with Chi. She was one step ahead of them. Tatara knew that they were equally matched.

The remaining bandits had stopped trying to attack the Seishi, enthralled in this battle. Was their leader really one of them? Or was this just some trick? They didn't know what to believe, and so watched on in complete disbelief, waiting for a victor to come out of the fray.

"Listen to us! We need to summon Byakko to save Xi-Lang! To save each other!!!" Tatara tried reasoning with her.

"LIARS!!! My father told me of His evil! Of our evil! Byakko cannot be summoned!!!"

"Your father is wrong, misled like you were!" Amefuri tried, but she kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying.

--

Subaru was relentless in her attack, but Jian had been fighting her entire life, and although that was short, she had learned many things in it. She managed to punch Subaru just under her neck, and Subaru flew off of her. Then both were standing and the real fight began.

Jian's face was covered in blood, but she wiped it away from her eyes and barely noticed. She was going to kill this seishi, for Chi.

"You know I'll win," Jian said as they faced off.

"I don't care if you kill me, what matters is that I take you with me!" Subaru yelled and lunged. Jian moved out of the way, kicking Subaru in the shin.

She didn't feel the pain and quickly turned, punching Jian in the face, and Jian didn't seem to feel the pain either. They kept fighting like that, their senses numbed, but they both had such a powerful mission in their mind, that they didn't care. They might have gone of fighting like that for all eternity, but then both were blown against the cave wall.

The blow had come from Chi, her aura exploding and it was powerful that everyone in the cave had been knocked down. She had almost gone completely mad with rage and power. All her life had been leading up to this, and now that it had come she would not fail her father. She would kill all the seishi, even herself if she had to.

"Chi!" Jian was on her feet, worry in her eyes. They knew, everyone knew.

Subaru looked at Jian, forgetting her anger for a moment. "She's a Seishi?" She asked harshly.

Jian sneered at Subaru. "Yes," she spat. "But she won't be dragged into your sinister plans!"

"What sinister plans!?! A week ago I didn't know I was a Seishi, I was working in a bar!"

"So why summon Byakko!?!"

"Because of you!!! Because all this death must be stopped! Xi-Lang needs to be saved!"

To Subaru, it looked liked she had almost gotten through to Jian. Like she wasn't so sure of anything anymore, but the look faded.

"You're walking into this, and you don't even know what you're doing! You've been lied to! All of you have been fooled! Byakko will destroy us all!!!" Suddenly Jian went still, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the floor.

Subaru looked up and there was Suzuno standing behind her, a rock in her hand, tears streaming down her face. She had hit Jian in the head.

Suzuno fell against the wall and slid down to the floor, the rock falling from her hands. Subaru knelt down, wrapping her arms around the younger girl, her eyes glued to the body of Kousa. "It's going to be all right," she reassured her softly. "Everything will be fine," but nothing seemed fine to her as she saw her best friend lying dead, Jian's words having planted seeds of doubt in her own mind. She had known nothing about any of this, she still didn't and now Kousa was dead and she felt so alone...

--

"CHI!!! You must listen to us!!! We meant none of you harm!!!" Tatara yelled, wondering if they would ever be able to calm Chi down. "We have to talk!!!"

"There's nothing to talk about!!!" Chi screamed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her father's image racing through her mind. He had let her live, even though she was an abomination. He had let her do this, even though she was a failure. She could not give up, she could not... but with every blow she wanted to more and more. "You people know nothing!!! Byakko is evil!!! EVIL!!!" She gave Amefuri a powerful punch, and he flew back to the wall, falling unconscious.

Tatara could have taken the opportunity to ensnare Chi, but he couldn't, he knew that he had to find another way to end this. He needed Chi to trust him. He needed Chi to realise that they were fighting for the sake of good.

"We only want peace for Xi-Lang!" Tatara cried.

"But you're being lied to!" Chi protested, her anger waning. "It's all a trap!"

"And how do you know that? Because your father told you! Think for a moment, none of us know anything for sure! Maybe Byakko will destroy us, and then we'll have no more worries - But what if he saves us?! We have to try! We have to believe!" He was winning her over.

Chi shook her heard, tears falling down her cheeks. "But my father-"

"It's not his decision! It's yours! Only you can decide the fate of Xi-Lang right now! You!"

Chi fell to her knees, looking up at Tatara in desperation. "I want to help... but how can I... How can I?"

Tatara went on his knees, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. "It's all right, we're here for you, all of the seishi are here for you."

She wrapped her arms around him. "I don't want to fight anymore..."

"You don't have to, we're here for you."

The bandits couldn't believe the turn of events. They stood even more dumbstruck than before, and then they realised that they were leaderless and at the mercy of the Seishi. They all realised it at once and began making their way to the door. They needed to find their head boss... Chi's father. And suddenly the bandit's were all gone.

--

Tokaki dragged himself to his feet and looked around the quiet cave. Dead bodies littered the floor, and suddenly a fear gripped him. He hadn't seen Subaru of Suzuno since the beginning of the fight. His eyes swept around the room, and then he saw them walking towards him, arms wrapped about each other in comfort.

He breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to them. He gently took Suzuno's arms, looking her over for any wounds.

"Are you all right?" He asked kindly, leaning down. Suzuno nodded, but said nothing. Then Tokaki's head turned to Subaru and he felt his heart melt. He had been so worried about her, and he hadn't even realised it until now. He let go of Suzuno who started towards Tatara and went towards Subaru.

"We're all-" Subaru couldn't finish her sentence as Tokaki suddenly wrapped his arms around her. She felt her heart flutter and slowly put her arms around him, letting herself fall into his embrace, and then he slowly pulled away.

"I'm glad you're ok."

Subaru suddenly got choked up, her eyes filling with tears. "Kousa's dead," she said silently, falling back into his embrace. "He's dead..."

All Tokaki could do, was hold Subaru, trying to soothe her, his eyes looked around the cave and there he found Kousa's body lying in darkness, and suddenly felt a tinge of pain. He would be missed.

(Oh man, that was a terribly hard chapter to write. I sat myself down and said: 'Ok. I shall write it all in one sitting'. The only outline I had was: 'Chi is a seishi'. I had to let Subaru deal with Kousa's death while not forgetting about the fight. I also had to keep track of everyone, and I'd keep forgetting people and have to go back and write stuff. The hardest was writing Chi's mind changing, it was a little easier because she had doubt in her mind from before, but she's still trying to fight it and at around page five I thought my brain would pop. This chapter was fun to write though. I liked giving Jian (Jian Rian) something to do and so her character developed quite nicely in the course of a few pages. I also wanted to explore Tokaki and Subaru's relationship here. Please tell me if you think I should re-write some of this. Was it too fast? Was there too much going on? Do you miss Kousa? I miss writing his accent... no wait, actually that's the one thing I don't miss. Well this is my update, hope you liked it, and I'm on a roll so more may come soon. P.S. Please forgive my lack of editing, after next chapter I will do a major edit)

Review:

azn: Well tickle me pink... You are the only one! And hey, cliffhanger's are good for the soul... so I hear...


	8. Shichi Seishi Kokie

Shichi Seshi Kokie

"Tatara!" Suzuno ran over to Tatara, and before she could stop herself, she found herself wrapping her arms around him, holding him in a tight embrace. Toroki stood beside them, a look of guilt on her face.

"Suzuno," he whispered softly, catching his breath and he held her delicately, smelling her beautiful hair, feeling the rhythm of her heart beating. He wanted to hold her forever, be with her forever... "I was worried."

Suzuno pulled back and smiled sweetly at him. "I was worried too... but I wasn't scared. I knew you would protect me... I was just worried that you would get hurt."

"I'm the one who's supposed to be worried about you."

"We're in this together, aren't we?"

"Of course."

"Then I'm just as entitled to worry about you," her face dropped then.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Suzuno closed her eyes. "It's Kousa... I know you didn't care for him... I know you didn't..." she looked back up at him, tears brimming her eyes. "But he's gone now... He's dead..."

Toroki's face snapped up. Because of her, one of their friends was dead. Dread raced through her mind. What could she do to comfort them? Say sorry? She still wasn't sure what to think about everything that was happening, and now she had to deal with this? How was she going to?

"And I..." Suzuno continued as Toroki's mind raced. "I think I killed someone."

Toroki raised an eyebrow. Killed 'someone'?

"A girl," she looked towards Toroki. "I had to."

"Oh no..." Toroki mumbled, then she took off, racing to the other end of the cave where the Seishi were. She ignored them and found instead what she was looking for. The body of her dearest and truest friend, Jian Rian, who now lay dead. "No!"

She got to her knees, hanging her head. How could this have happened!?! The world was swimming before her, the destiny she didn't want dragging her down. How could this be happening? Her dearest friend, closer than her father, like a sister. They had been together for years and years, ran off to lead a band of younger bandits in hopes of making her father proud. Her father who both loved and detested her because of who she was, a Seishi... and now the only person she could ever count on was dead...

"Jian... I'm sorry..."

--

Across on the hall, as Tatara held the worried Suzuno, Amefuri rose to his feat. He'd heard everything that the two Seishi had said.

"He's not dead!" Amefuri yelled, storming towards the dead body of Kousa. He was still shaky from hitting the wall, but that didn't get in the way of his anger. "He's playing dead, he's a liar!"

"What are you talking about!?!" Suzuno asked, exasperated.

Tokaki and Subaru stood by his body, arms around each other. Subaru was too upset to say anything.

"Look at him," Tokaki said, "he's dead."

"You don't know him!" Amefuri continued, he came up to the body and kneeled down.

"And you do!?!" Suzuno came up behind him, Tatara following closely behind.

Amefuri closed his eyes. "He's been hiding something from you, something you need to know. If he dies now, then all our hopes die with-"

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!" The scream came from Kousa's mouth, he sat up.

Subaru looked at him, and screamed herself. Everyone jumped back. Then Kousa took a deep breath and fell back down.

"He's alive!?!" Tokaki yelled, sounding almost disappointed.

"I saw him get stabbed..." Suzuno muttered. "He was stabbed in the stomach..."

Tatara leaned down and grabbed the knife from Kousa's hand.

"No," Kousa muttered, trying to keep the knife form him, but he was too weak to hold it back.

Tatara held the knife up, it didn't have a single drop of blood on it.

"What are you?" Tatara asked, looking down at him beyond confused. Though maybe Suzuno was wrong, maybe he hadn't been stabbed... But as he looked at her, he was sure that she had seen right. So Kousa had done something...

"I can'... oh I can' see straight. I'm fuckin' dyin' man..." Kousa started mumbling.

"Kousa?" Subaru kneeled down, taking his hand. "It's me Doulin, you're going to be fine."

Amefuri grabbed his collar, looking deep into his eyes. "Tell them, or I will."

Kousa looked up, recognizing his face. His eyes showed fear, and so he closed them. Amefuri let him go, his head fell back to the ground.

"I was hopin' ya died..." Kousa said almost to himself...

"You saw him get stabbed in the stomach?" Tokaki asked, just to be sure. Suzuno nodded.

Tatara grabbed Kousa's shirt by the bottom.

"No!" Kousa protested, trying to inch away, but every movement was intense pain. Tatara lifted the shirt, there was no cut on his stomach, but still everyone gasped at what they saw there.

"I'm going to be sick..." Tokaki exclaimed to himself, turning around.

"You're a Shichi Seishi?" Suzuno asked quickly, disbelief washing over her. There was the character 'stomach', shining just enough so that they could see it.

"The Shichi Seishi Kokie," Amefuri said.

"Fuck..." Kousa mumbled.

"This is it... isn't it? This is what you've been lying about..." She looked at Amefuri. "How did you know?"

"Yeah, who the hell are you!?!" Subaru yelled, recovering from her shock. She wasn't terribly fond of this Amefuri.

"In truth, I cannot tell you..."

"We need to know if we can trust you," Tatara said forcefully, some of the adrenaline from fighting still in his blood.

"I cannot tell you because I cannot remember," Amefuri sighed. "When I was younger, a few years ago, I was found by a man near the base of the mountain. I had hit my head, I couldn't remember a thing! He raised me, taught me many things, helped me master my powers. He was a great monk, and he knew all the identities of the Shichi Seishi.

"When he saw that the Miko had arrived, he knew it was time for me to leave, so he told me who all the Shichi Seishi were and told me to keep a special eye on this one, because he would try everything in his power to get out of his destiny!"

The other Shichi Seishi looked on, trying to figure out whether or not he was lying. Toroki watched on from the sidelines, cradling Jian's head on her lap.

"So... what you're telling us is, you know who the last Shichi Seishi is?" Tokaki asked, having returned to the conversation.

"Yes."

Suzuno had to smile at that, and so did the other Seishi. Their journey would soon be over, in no time at all they would have all the Seishi and would summon Byakko. Then she would be able to return home... She looked at Tatara, smiling to himself, and suddenly she realised that she didn't want to go home that fast... She wouldn't mind taking longer to find the Seishi.

"If you know the Seishi... Then you know what will happen when Byakko is summoned," Toroki suddenly spoke up, everyone but Kousa looked over to her, almost having forgotten about. "Then you know if it's wrong."

Amefuri was silent for a few minutes. "No, I could not possibly know this."

Toroki sighed, brushing some hair out of Jian's pale face, she looked down at her face and gave a small laugh. "It's really the blind leading the blind," she looked up. "Isn't it?"

"Don't worry."

"What, me worry?" She looked back down with sad eyes. "Never..."

"So... does this mean I'm not goin' ta jail anymore?" Kousa suddenly asked, Tokaki glared down at him.

"Rest assured, that you are definitely going to jail!" He looked at the others, Subaru was glaring at him. "But first... you are definitely going to see a doctor," he said, rolling his eyes. Then he looked over at Toroki, a Shichi Seishi and a bandit... Could they trust her? Today they had discovered that three people they're not sure they can trust are actually Seishi. For now, he thought bitterly, he'd just have to keep his emotions in check until they had recuperated at the palace.

If there was reason to not trust them, he'd be the first to react to it.

"Well, we have to go back to the palace as soon as possible," Subaru said, kneeling next to Kousa and stroking his hair. "He needs help."

"Wait, just a moment, how did he avoid the knife?" Tatara suddenly asked.

"He didn't," Amefuri quickly stated. "Hold his hand out."

"What?" Kousa asked, but before he could do anything Tatara was holding his hand out, then Amefuri took the knife and plunge it into his hand. Subaru and Suzuno screamed, but then Kousa quickly took his hand away. They couldn't believe it. The knife had gone right through his hand, like a ghost.

"You can go through things? Like walls and knives?" Subaru asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah..."

"That doesn't make sense," Tokaki started up. "If you could go through walls, why not escape from jail? Why let yourself get beat up all the time?"

Kousa groaned, not wanting to speak anymore, the pain was becoming insufferable. "Don' work on livin' things..." he mumbled. "And as for jail..." Kousa smiled, but said nothing more and Tokaki had to wonder if he wouldn't sneak out at night or anything.

"Well the next cell you go to will be surrounded by bushes or something!" Tokaki yelled.

--

Toroki stayed in silence, listening to the fighting going on between her fellow Shichi Seishi. 'Fellow'... Indeed, for she was one of them, but she still didn't want to. Memories of when her father first found out, how he wanted to kill her... but for her mother who pleaded for her life. She tried telling him that she could be useful, that her Seishi powers could help them.

When her mother had died three years ago, when she was only 14, she knew she could no longer stay with her father, and so she left with her friend. A young girl then, only 12, Jian Rian had been her lifelong friend, the only other person who knew the truth about her, that she was a Shichi Seishi. 

Together the two gathered other lost children, boys and girls both, and they became bandits together. She wanted so much to please her father, she would bring him treasure trying to find his blessing. Sometimes he would smile at her, pat her on the back, but always Toroki had to know that her father hated her for who she was... who she might become.

Then the Miko came, and when she heard about the stranger travelling with a small group, she knew her chance to prove to her father that she wouldn't betray him had come. She would give her father the Miko and he could kill her if he wished... And now... now Jian Rian was dead as well, and her father would finally have been betrayed.

She wanted to weep, but held back the tears, because now she had to be strong. If she found out that summoning Byakko was the wrong thing to do, then she wouldn't do it. She would not follow them blindly. No.

And then she felt it, soft at first. It had always been there, but she just hadn't noticed it. Like a drumbeat... a heartbeat. Toroki caught her breath. She was alive, Jian Rian was alive. She wanted to scream it out as she held her friend. She gently placed her head back on the ground and looked her over. She was starting to move, starting to wake up.

"Jian," she whispered, Jian moaned and moved her head a little. She wasn't dead, the Miko hadn't killed her. She smiled and felt happiness again. Maybe things weren't so bad. "Wake up Jian."

"Chi?"

"Yes, it's me. Wake up."

The other Seishi turned their heads, hearing Toroki's voice. Subaru and Suzuno tensed up, they knew who it was waking up, and they weren't so sure that it was a good thing.

Jian moaned again, putting her hand on her head. "My head hurts."

"Yes, it's bleeding, but you're fine, so just wake up," Toroki said a bit more forcefully. "Listen Jian, things are a little different. I can't fight my destiny... I can't..."

"What are you talking about Chi?"

"Well, see my name's Toroki. I'm a Shichi Seishi, you knew that... And I think I have to follow my heart, my destiny... With them."

Jian's eyes shot open, consciousness suddenly hitting her.

"What if my father's wrong?"

Jian looked over, seeing the other Seishi standing just a few feet away. She struggled to get up.

"Jian, slow down, you're still hurt!" Toroki protested, but Jian ignored her.

"Where's my spear?" She asked, groping around as her head swam, she saw black spots dance before her eyes, but she couldn't see her spear. "Where's my spear!?!" She screamed.

Toroki grabbed her shoulder, trying to steady her, but Jian pulled away, falling back to the ground.

"Should we...?" Tokaki began to ask, wondering if it was his place to do something.

"Wait," Subaru hissed.

"Why do you need your spear?" Toroki asked, standing up.

"Because they're the enemy!" She groped around some more and then finally her hands fell across the shaft. Toroki put her foot down on it, not letting Jian pick it up.

"They're not the enemy. You're just not thinking straight."

"Let go of my spear!" Jian tackled Toroki to the ground and then quickly grabbed her spear, using it to help herself stand.

Toroki was quickly on her feet. "Jian, please. I know it's a lot to take in, but I'm going with them. I am one of them."

Jian paused, looking around at the Seishi. "Chi... have they done something to your mind?"

"No, this has been coming for a long time."

Jian shook her head. "No, I know you."

"Then you should understand."

"They're the enemy! If you're one of them..." Jian trailed off, glaring at Toroki. "Then you're my enemy."

"Jian-"

"Shut up!" Jian screamed, swaying a little.

"Are you going to attack me?"

The Seishi stepped forward.

Jian rubbed her eyes, from pain or tears, Toroki couldn't tell. "I can fight you all."

"You don't have to," Toroki took a step forward, putting a hand on Jian's shoulder. Jian quickly moved backwards, slapping her hand away. "Jian... I thought you were dead, and now you're alive... but this..."

Jian shook her head, trying to shake away the pain and cloudiness. "Stand back Chi, or I will kill you."

(Ah! I just kept writing and writing and totally forgot when I was supposed to finish the chapter. I wanted to end here, because I want the next chapter to start out with a fight. I was planning on making Kousa Kokie since the first time I introduced him, but I knew it had to be delayed. When I pretended to kill him off I was really trying to hold onto that, 'cuz the longer I waited, the more you'd think that he was actually dead and not a Seishi, but I finally got to bring him back to life here! Yay! Now here's a big plot change: Originally I was gonna make Jian Karasuki. But! I couldn't help thinking how obvious that was, and then this great plot and the betrayal came to mind and I thought: 'Much better'. So there's still one more seishi to find, yay! Anyway, I hope you're liking this story, because I really like it, even though it's taking me awhile to write it. Oddly enough, I was supposed to be working on my LOTRFic 'The Butterfly Effect', but after two pages of that I realised that I needed a break from LOTRs, and really wanted to work more on this Fic, so here it is! Chapter eight of my ever plot-changing story. Byt the by, if you like this story, read 'Genbu No Miko', it's like this, only about Genbu. I'm very jealous of the author *Eulene* because she published her story almost a year after me, and has posted 22 chapters already! I'm such a slow writer. Banky: You kinda suck too... That was mean Banky, just mean. Well, ignoring my muses, I shall now post this. Yay!Don't be scared to review)

Reviews:

Chaotic Demon: DUDE!

azn: Thanks azn! I'm glad I could make you cry. *Evil laugh*

Roberta: How dare you apologise for a long review! Those are my favourite! Your input was great and I'm definitely gonna keep it when mind when I FINALLY get around to editing this again.


	9. Jian Rian

Chapter Nine: Jian Rian

"Jian," Toroki said softly. "You have to calm down. You're not thinking properly! Your head's bleeding!"

Jian stood away from Toroki, her face covered in blood and sweat. She pushed some of her blond hair out of her eyes and tried to think things through. One moment they had been fighting against the enemy, and then suddenly she wakes up and finds that she's been betrayed. Toroki... Chi, had been brainwashed. Think clearly!?! She was thinking clearly, it was Chi who couldn't think clearly.

"Chi, everything we've ever known, ever been told to believe... You just suddenly don't believe it anymore?"

"I don't know anything for sure! But I'm willing to find out! I'm going to figure this out Jian. Please try and understand!"

"No..." All of them could see how upset Jian looked, the tears brimming her eyes. "Them or me."

"Jian, don't even think something like that! I have to go with them!"

"Fine!" Jian yelled and instantly set herself on her lifelong friend.

Toroki barely had time to look shocked as Jian ran at her, her spear outright. Toroki had no weapons on her. Her symbol flared to life instead and right before Jian's spear found its way to her chest, Toroki quickly jumped aside, her hand grabbing the spear's shaft and pushing it away. Then as Jian continued on from the momentum, Toroki kicked her in the back.

Jian tripped, but using her spear kept her feet grounded. She turned around with spite in her eyes.

"Go on Toroki! Kill me with your cursed powers!"

"I won't kill you!"

"Well I'll kill you!" Jian threw her spear.

The other Seishi looked on in fear. Suddenly Tokaki was no longer standing beside them, and before they could ask where he had gone, they saw Toroki teleport safely away and the spear fly on into the wall.

Jian screamed with rage. "Demons!" She turned to the Seishi, where she saw Tokaki holding onto the confused looking Toroki.

Tokaki winked at Toroki. "Thank me later babe."

"I don't need your help," Toroki said forcefully, pushing Tokaki away. "This is my fight!" She looked at all of them. "So stay out of it."

Toroki ran at Jian.

"You never did fight fair," Jian remarked and the two clashed. Punches and kicks flying. All of them could tell that Toroki was holding back, fighting just enough to make sure Jian couldn't hurt her.

"We can't just stand here, someone could get really hurt," Suzuno urged, looking on with concern. Things were finally coming together for the better, and now this. Would they ever succeed in summoning Byakko? Would she ever get home?

Tatara nodded, about to go forward, but Tokaki grabbed his arm. "Just wait." The two looked at each other for a few seconds and then Tatara looked away. "Fine, I'll wait."

Subaru looked on, a different view on her mind. Two friends were locked in combat, it couldn't end well of course... But if she could stop the fight then neither of them had to hurt each other, they wouldn't hate each other forever. This fight could not continue to go on.

Toroki knew her time was running out. Jian meant to kill her, she was sure of that, and the longer they fought the closer she came to the realisation that the only way this fight would end is if one of them wasn't moving any more. If she could just knock Jian out... but Jian would wake up and hate her even more.

What was she supposed to do?

Jian became increasingly frustrated, throwing everything she had at Toroki, but Toroki had always been the superior fighter. If she could get her spear back, then she would have a chance. A chance to... to kill her. She was going to kill her best friend... her enemy.

Subaru closed her eyes, still feeling the drain on her powers from the fight before. If she could just make Jian Rian younger, then the fight would have to stop. Then they could convince her of the truth, that Toroki was still her friend and doing what she believed to be right. Everything would be just fine.

Toroki looked over and saw the Seishi and Miko huddled together, and there Subaru stood a little ways away, her eyes closed in concentration, her hands up as if she were praying. And Toroki suddenly knew that she was going to use her Seishi powers. She was trying to hurt Jian.

"No," Toroki hissed out, distracted from Jian's kick aimed at her stomach. She doubled over in pain as the wind was knocked out of her. "Stop!" Toroki choked out, and quickly picked up a rock and threw it at Subaru. The rock just missed Subaru, crashing against the wall behind her head. Subaru's eyes flung open in surprise.

"This isn't your fight!" Toroki called out, getting to her knees. She then looked behind her, hearing Jian's running footsteps behind her. She quickly turned, still on one knees and Jian thrust her spear and it found it's way to Toroki's left shoulder, piercing it's way to the other side.

Toroki screamed and took hold of the spear with her right hand. She glared up at Jian who stood over her with a spiteful look still plastered on her face. She pushed it forth as far as she could, causing immense pain in Toroki's shoulder.

"Jian!" Toroki called out in desperation, the look of hatred on her friends face so unfamiliar and hurtful. Her character began glow brighter and brighter until the white seemed to wrap completely around Toroki.

Everyone looked on in wonder, except for Jian who took a step back with shock on her face, but she still held onto her spear.

Suddenly Toroki clenched her fist around the spear and it splintered and snapped in half. Jian gasped in disbelief as she pulled back, a third of her spear now missing, but the jagged end still looking like it would do some damage.

Toroki struggled to her feet, the aura around her not disappearing. She grabbed the piece of spear still embedded into her shoulder and with a horrible wrench she pulled the spear end out, blood dripping off of it. She threw the spear away and it clattered in the deathly silence of the cave.

Jian gave a nervous smile. "No turning back now, is there?"

Toroki didn't stop glaring at Jian. "This is going to end here Jian."

Jian nodded sadly. "I know."

Subaru stood there cursing herself. This was going to end badly now no matter what, and she felt partially responsible. If this was fate had guided them to, though, then so be it. That didn't mean she liked the fact.

Jian launched herself at Toroki, her broken spear in her left hand, and her right hand ready to punch. Toroki brought her right arm up, blocking the punch. Then Jian thrust the spear forward, and Toroki had to duck to miss the blow.

Toroki then stood up with all her force, sending her right shoulder into Jian's stomach.

Tokaki smiled to himself. His hatred of her because she was a bandit seemed to melt away as she watched her fight. She had been manipulated all her life he could see that, but this girl was strong, she was a good fighter... and really hot. He was glad she was on their side now.

Amefuri stood nearer to the half conscious Kokie, ignoring him as he asked what the hell was going on. He too wanted to stop this fight, but something held him back, some part of him understood that these two needed to finish the fight and nobody else should interfere. Some part of him understood that greatly...

Jian fell to the ground, blood dripping from her mouth. She couldn't speak as pain swept through her body. Toroki didn't wait for her to get up, she couldn't control her anger, the betrayal she felt. She picked up her leg and kicked Jian, pushing her roughly into the hard rock.

Jian screamed then, not in pain, but in anger. She grabbed the broken spear in her hands and with all her strength rose to her feet and thrust the spear at Toroki. Toroki grabbed the spear and then kicked Jian again.

She let go of her spear and fell onto her back, tears of frustration streaming down her face as she tried to ignore the pain and get up.

Toroki didn't give her the chance, with the broken spear she flung herself on Jian, thrusting the spear through her left shoulder. Jian called out in pain as the spear went through her shoulder and into the rock, nailing her to the floor.

"Chi..." Jian called out, looking up at her friend. Toroki's eyes looked uncaring as she head butted the younger girl. Jian's head was sent back, hitting the rock.

She didn't move.

Toroki took a deep breath and sat back, the white aura and her character disappearing. She almost fell back from mental and physical exhaustion, but suddenly everyone was by her side. Tokaki was on his knees, holding her up.

Suzuno crouched by her side, taking the hand of her Seishi. "Are you ok?" She asked in concern. Toroki nodded and then looked at Jian.

The question was there in her eyes, "is she ok?" But she said nothing, unable to.

Amefuri crouched down beside Jian's head and took her pulse. He looked up at Toroki and nodded. "She alive."

Toroki looked away sadly. She looked up towards the ceiling of the cave, swallowing the overwhelming sadness she felt. "Now she won't stop until one of us is dead."

"We could take her back with us," Subaru suggested.

"No," Toroki said, shaking her head. "My father will be here soon, and he will find her. She'll be just fine..."

Toroki stood up.

"Well that's not what I meant. I meant we could help her see the truth."

"The truth?" Toroki looked down at her. "I don't even know what the truth is."

--

The six Seishi, Miko made their way out of the cave, there were horse outside, probably belonging to the dead bandits who they left in the cave. There was one great black stallion, it was Toroki's, and she mounted it without a word.

Suddenly they heard a small meow and they all looked down to see a small black and white tabby cat running up to Kokie.

"Byakko!" Suzuno called out happily and got onto her knees, she began to pet the cat and Byakko in turn began to purr. "I was wondering what happened to you!"

Kokie turned his head as he lay on the ground, and he found himself smiling at the cat as she left Suzuno's side and made her way over to Kokie where she began to lick his face and purr. "Nice ta see you too kitty."

"Why anything likes him is beyond me," Tokaki mumbled to himself annoyed as he mounted a horse.

They all got onto a horse and then began their journey back to the capital. Kousa could barely move, and the rest were very exhausted and hurt, but they had to keep moving because of the close threat of the bandits who probably came upon the cave hours after they left, just missing them and maybe gaining on them.

They couldn't take any chances and wounded or not, they travelled as fast as they could. They had to keep a close eye on Kokie to make sure that he didn't fall off of his horse, though Tokaki kept threatening to drag him by a rope if he didn't stop complaining about the pain.

Toroki's arm had been put into a sling and the entire way back to the capital she didn't say a single word to anyone, and they gave her her space, wanting her to feel more comfortable around them and not try to pry into her personal life.

"Only one more Seishi to find," Suzuno smiled as she walked with Subaru and Tatara. "I wonder where we should look... We've been lucky so far, Amefuri saying that he knows who they are... but where could they be...?"

A light came to Tatara's eyes. "Now that you mention it..." He reached into his bag and pulled out a white scroll. "I've had it for years, both Tokaki and me were given it by the Emperor who thought the Seishi ought to hold onto it. I was never given a chance to show it to you before, and then I completely forgot."

Suzuno opened the scroll and looked at it. "I know this!" She exclaimed suddenly, recognizing the characters from her fathers book, the book she had been reading when she woke up in this crazy world. "This is the Universe of the Four Gods!"

Tatara nodded. "They say Tai-Yi-Jun* gave each country one, in case the Miko ever came she would know where to look for us," he pointed at one character, the character for flower and lasso. "There I am."

"Oo," Subaru looked at it. "That's me!" Subaru pointed out the characters for beauty and rise. "Fits perfectly I'd say." Se said with a wink and Suzuno smiled.

"Well, this helps," she said rolling it back up. "We can look at it more once we get back to the capital," she handed it back to Tatara.

"No," Tatara said, looking into her eyes. "It's yours now."

Suzuno nodded and put it into her own bag. "Ok." She paused for a moment. "But who's this Tai-Yi-Jun fellow?"

"The creator of our planet, and both father and mother to the four Beast Gods."

"Really???"

Tatara nodded. "According to legend, Tai-Yi-Jun lives on Mount Daichi*."

Suzuno looked back north to where they came from. The mountains where the war between the north and south began, when the Prince's true love fell to her death, bearing the child who may or may not have been Byakko. Suzuno was sad just looking at the mountains, and so looked back to the south, towards the horizon where the capital awaited them.

--

"Jian, speak to me. Where is my daughter?"

Jian's eyes shot open and pain flooded into her system. She almost felt back unconscious, except for the persistent voice near by.

"Where is my daughter?"

Jian looked around trying to find the source of the voice, but all she could see was black. Panic nearly seized her, but then the black began to melt away and a face came into view. A face she knew very well.

Chi's father.

"Sir..." she whispered, glad that he was there, and yet a sudden sadness grabbed hold of her and tears started to form in her eyes. "They've taken her. They've taken Chi."

"What? What are you talking about Jian? Who took her?" He didn't look as concerned as most fathers would.

"The Seishi and their whore whom they call 'Miko'!" Jian spat out, thinking of how they had brainwashed her best friend and forced them to fight. "They discovered she was a Seishi! And they turned her against us!"

"Keep your voice down," he scolded as some of the bandits looked there way. Most of the bandits were adults from his band, but a few of the younger bandits who now stood among their slaughtered comrades were there, having run away to find Chi's father and rush him and his bandits back to the cave. But once they arrived, the Seishi were gone and most of the bandits in the cave were dead or terribly wounded.

"I'm sorry," Jian muttered, looking away in shame. "But she's gone."

He stood up, looking towards the exit.

"Don't worry Jian, I am not mad at you," he looked down at her. "But do not mourn that traitor, and traitor she is. You must save your strength and heal, because there is much work to do."

He looked back towards the exit, plans beginning to form in his head. "Their Miko and all the Seishi will die."

Jian looked up with wide eyes. "All?"

"All."

*Terms:

Tai-Yi-Jun:In the Manga/Anime, it's Taiitsukun, that's Japanese, this is Chinese.

Daichi:Mount Taikyoku in Japanese. Is also Daichi-San

(Aoi Dragon mentioned about Yuu Watase writing the Genbu story. I had heard of that and am absolutely psyched over it, and I have also thought about her taking on Byakko. That'd be cool and all, though it would make me sad and I'd probably take this story down. So! Read and you can, and let's keep watching the stars! Anyway, it's crazy how fast I wrote this chapter. I wrote half a page after posting the last one, and then today I sat down and finished the whole chapter - thank you Aoi Dragon for giving me some inspiration with your review! This chapter had a lot of influence from 'The Illiad'. They use a lot of spears in it, and so that was very helpful seeing Jian obviously fights with a spear. Mind you, I was alsot listening to the soundtrack from 'Wicked' - which is, forgive the pun, a wicked musical - so that may have given my writing a strange mood. But I think I'm happy with this chapter. A new little arc has begun, and that's exciting! I think it might be overdue for me to go back and edit the last few chapters, so hopefully I'll do that before my next update. Ok, can't think of what else to say, please review because that really, really, really helps me write. Thank you and goodnight!)

Review:

Aoi Dragon: Hey! You've finally given me a review! I've been waiting for you to review for so long and now it's finally happened! *Throws confetti*


	10. Tai Yi Jun

Chapter Ten: Tai-Yi-Jun

"Watch me daddy! I'm flying the kite!"

"Good work Suzuno!"

"Haha! This is so fun daddy!"

"Come here Suzuno, I want to give you a big hug."

"Why daddy?"

"Because I love you Suzuno. I love you more than the air I breath or all the beautiful flowers in the world. You're my precious little girl."

"I love you too daddy!"

Suzuno opened her eyes, and saw that she was once again in the Emperor's Palace, far, far away from her loving father and their home in Morioka... And suddenly she felt so alone.

They had arrived at the Palace the night before and a doctor had been rushed to Kokie's side. He was hurt badly, but they were sure that he would survive. However, he would not be able to travel for some time.

Being that they were so exhausted, they had decided to go straight to bed and weren't going to make any plans as far as travelling was concerned until the next morning, but as Suzuno looked at the light streaming through the curtains she was sure that it was the afternoon.

Slowly Suzuno turned over and sat up in bed, she was still very tired and felt so heavy, but she rubbed her eyes and threw the blankets off. Beside her bed was a beautiful dress that had been laid out for her, her clothing had been taken to get washed.

The dress was very elegant and Suzuno wasn't too sure she was putting it on properly, but didn't want to call anyone in to help her with it either. She felt like she just wanted to be alone right now. So many things had happened over the last few days. At times she still wondered if it wasn't a dream... or a nightmare... 

Suzuno sat herself at the table and began brushing her hair, her small mirror sat on the table and beside it a few of her books, things she had begun to unpack before she had given up and gone back to bed. She took the mirror now and looked into it. Why was she here? Who was she?

"Miko?"

Suzuno turned her head around and found one of the servant girls standing there with her head lowered. "I was sent here to get ask is you would like to come for lunch."

"Yes," Suzuno smiled at the girl, even though she kept her eyes on the ground. "I'll be right there."

--

"Toroki?"

Toroki turned her head and saw Tokaki standing before her. It was around noon and Toroki found herself sitting by a small lake of the palace grounds. She was in complete shock of her surroundings. She had never been in such a grand place, least of all the Emperor's Palace and hadn't been able to sleep in the grand bedroom they had provided for her and all morning she had been getting lost through the many gardens and palace rooms there were.

When she had found the lake she decided to rest and just try to take the last few days in, and now as noon came upon her Tokaki came up to here.

"Can I sit beside you?"

Toroki looked at him unsure for a while and then turned around and shrugged. "Go for it."

Tokaki sat down and looked out at the beautiful crystal clear lake, watching the fish swimming down below him. He had been to the palace many times, but the beauty of it never faltered.

"I wanted to ask you..." He thought about his words carefully.

"Yes?" She looked at him.

"If I can trust you?" He turned and looked at her with a serious look on his face. "Though I hope you don't take offence by the question."

"Hn, no," he combed her fingers through her hair, her bandana was back on her forehead, but her hair was now lose around her back. "I understand if you guys don't trust me, I don't trust you either."

"Don't trust us?"

"Well..." she looked back to the lake. "I don't trust Byakko... and us Seishi are a part of him. I don't even trust myself to him."

"As Seishi, we're in this together, and I want to know if I can count on you."

"I betrayed my best friend for you," the words came out of her mouth calmly, but her mind raged with the hurt she had felt as she looked into her best friend's eyes and seen only hatred. "You can take your own conclusions from that."

"I know how you feel?"

"Oh?" Toroki looked at him, her eyes said that she didn't believe him for a second.

"I lost everyone I held dear as well... but unlike you, I can never have them back." Tokaki didn't look at her as he said the words, afraid that he might show weakness in his eyes. He didn't want to show weakness to a bandit.

"I can never have her back..." Toroki trailed off, and suddenly wondered if maybe she could. Maybe Jian would come around and they could be friends... maybe... No. She pushed the thoughts out of her minds. What good was it to get her hopes up?

"Toroki," he looked deep into her eyes. "You need to give me an answer, and be truthful. Can I count on you to be there for us in the good and bad times ahead?"

Toroki paused, looked back in his eyes. "Yes," she finally said, and Tokaki got a look of relief in his eyes. "But," she started again, and Tokaki paused in uncertainty, "if I find that I have been mislead, I will stop the summoning... Even if it means killing all of you or even me. I will do what I think is right."

Tokaki nodded, some of Toroki's torment shining through.

"So, you trust the word of a bandit?" Toroki asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I don't like bandits, that's no lie... In fact I hate them and I don't normally take their word for anything... But I can tell you're not lying... And if I'm wrong, though I'm normally not," he looked at her with a growing intensity. "I will kill you, even if it means stopping the summoning."

--

The five Seishi and Miko were gathered around the table after having eaten their dinner. They were planning what to do next. Kokie wasn't there with him, being that he was still recovering and Byakko was fiercely watching over him.

Toroki and Tokaki had been the last to arrive at their little dinner, and Subaru couldn't help ask herself why they had been together, especially since Tokaki had shown such a deep seeded hatred towards the bandits.

But the matter was left alone as they began eating and right after they started their planning on the journey that was before them.

Suzuno took out the scroll.

"Amefuri, what exactly do you know about the next Seishi?"

Amefuri thought for a moment. "I know that she lies in the west, and I know her powers."

"She? Her?" Tokaki asked, his interest peaked. "Do you know if she's good-looking?"

"Lau'an," Tatara warned under his breath.

"What? It might help to find her?" Tokaki raised his hands in defence.

"No, I don't know what she looked like," Amefuri stated monotone.

"What about her name?" Subaru asked.

"I am afraid that I do not know her name, just that she is Karasuki."

"Karasuki... the final Shichi Seshi..." Suzuno mumbled to herself, realising how close they were to her goal. Soon she could go home... to her father...

"I love you Suzuno."

Her eyes wandered over to Tatara. Being here, she thought, wasn't so bad.

"What does the scroll tell us?" Amefuri asked, looking over to Suzuno.

"Oh," Suzuno was forced to put her thoughts away and she unrolled the scroll and looked at the final character. Investigator. Beside her was the character for mother.

"Mother," she said silently, thought of her own mother flashing through her head.

"This Seishi has children?" Toroki asked.

Suzuno nodded sadly. Would they be taking away a mother from her child? There were so many dangers following them... What is this Karasuki was hurt... or killed?

"Well that does help," Tatara sighed. "Amefuri, what are her powers?"

"She has the power to move things with her mind, telekinesis."

"So we're looking for a mother who can move things with her mind..." Tokaki thought about it for a moment. "Think she's single?"

Tatara felt himself groan in annoyance.

--

As their planning came to an end, the decision was made that Amefuri, Tatara, Tokaki and Toroki would accompany Suzuno to find Karasuki.

Subaru had said, sounding a little annoyed, that she would rather stay at the palace and watch over Kokie rather than have to travel across the country with such unfavourable company. That's when she looked right at Tokaki, though he was too busy thinking about beautiful women to notice it or her comment.

Amefuri, Tokaki and Toroki had all left by the time Subaru finally left her seat.

"Does he hit on every woman he meets?" Subaru asked Tatara in annoyance.

"Well..." Tatara thought as Suzuno stood up, rolling the scroll back up. "Not every woman. Though there was that time we met that waitress, and then the time we got lost and met all the Emperor's wives... and then that time he met my mother..." Tatara trailed off, remembering all the numerous encounters with lovely ladies the two had had over the past two years together.

"I bet his second character was pervert!*"

Tatara paused as Subaru left in a huff.

"Well actually..."

"You two are very different," Suzuno remarked.

"Heh, yeah. It's a wonder we've stayed friends for as long as we have..."

"Why have you?"

"... Once you get past the womanizing and his temper... there's loyalty and a good heart. He'd do anything for the people he loved," Tatara looked deep into Suzuno's eyes. "When he says he'll die for you, he really does mean it..."

--

"Meow," Byakko greeted Suzuno as she walked down the hallway as the sun set.

"Oh hello Byakko," Suzuno bent down and petting the small cat who started to purr. "Needed a break from Kousa?"

Byakko meowed in response.

"Well, I'm off to look at the temple is you want to join me," Byakko meowed and the two left.

Suzuno found the temple, down a path away from the palace, troches surrounded it giving off an almost magical glow. The building was wooden and round and on the great wooden doors was the character for Byakko carved in gold. The lightly touched the character and almost felt closer to the God.

Was he really evil?

She went to open the door, but then looked down at Byakko. "Apparently you're suppose to cleanse before entering."

Byakko began liking her paws.

Suzuno smiled. "Works for me."

Then Suzuno opened the door, and it swung open easily despite it's size and thickness.

The inside was dark, though candles surrounded her and in the centre she saw a great bowl that held a fire, and beyond it was a fierce statue of Byakko that had been painted white and black and inlaid with golden eyes. It almost looked like a real tiger staring at her through the flames, and the hairs stood on the back on her neck.

She walked in, closing the door behind her and Byakko followed in, careful not to make a sound in such a holy place.

Suzuno could barely describe the feeling that surrounded her, like a thick presence, like she was being watched, and yet it was such a comfortable feeling... a very quiet and intense feeling.

"Byakko... the child of Tai-Yi-Jun..." She said, thinking back to her conversation with Tatara the other day. "I wonder if he can hear me... If either of them can... I wonder if this isn't just some superstitious belief that I've been sucked into..."

She sighed and looked down at Byakko. "Well, I guess it's time for bed," she said and turned to leave.

"Superstitious belief?" An old and scratchy voice came from behind her.

Suzuno turned around slowly. Someone was in there with her! But she did not see a monk or servant hiding in one of the corners, instead she saw a very small, very ugly, and very old figure sitting cross legged in the middle of the fire.

"The Genbu no Miko never said anything so ignorant as that!"

Suzuno's mouth hung opened in disbelief. What in the world was that, that... thing?

"I am Tai-Yi-Jun," she said, the scowl on her face not leaving. "And it certainly is not as pleasurable as I thought it would be to meet you."

"You... you're Tai-Yi-Jun?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"You're real?"

"Of course I'm real!

Suzuno stepped forward. "But... but how?"

"Don't ask such a stupid question."

"What am I supposed to ask!?!"

"Nothing, if you don't want to."

"Well... Why are you here?"

"Because I think you need a little guidance."

"Oh?"

"I realise the question of whether or not to summon Byakko has come to light. Well that's your choice and your three wishes, but I will tell you this. Byakko is the most temperamental of my sons, though he is not evil."

He is not evil.

"You have come far Miko, and there are many hardships before you... But you..." her face lightened a little. "You will triumph."

Suzuno felt a warmth come to her heart, all doubts seemed to wash away as if they had never been there.

"No I must go. Do you have any questions to ask before I leave you?"

"Well... there is one..."

"Yes, Miko?"

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

*Terms:

Pervert:In Japanese pervert is 'hentai', just in case you've wondered what that means.

(If I met Taiitsukun/Tai-Yi-Jun, that's the first thing I'd ask. You can imagine that after that question there was probably a lot of screaming and hissing, but probably no answer whatsoever, so why bother writing one? It's just a nice little mystery in the world of Fushigi Yuugi. So all the Seishi are almost found, but the story's not quite finished. I mean, how can it be when Tatara and Suzuno haven't really fallen in love yet? Though hopefully my subtle hints aren't too subtle. I must say that I'm having a lot more fun writing them, they've found their character niches, mostly thanks to all you lovely reviewers. I am happy to report that I have gone back and done a quick edit, I probably didn't get all the mistakes I've made, but I have fixed the double spacing which probably annoyed you more than me, and it really annoyed me. Nothing's changed, except I've added Byakko into all the chapters in which I forgot to write her in saying to myself: "I'll do it later" Kinda like Kousa's accent... which I think is all fixed now. One thing that's bugging me is what to call Kousa now. I'm so used to saying Kousa that Kokie feels a little weird. Most people, like Subaru are gonna keep referring to him as Kousa, kinda like Kousa never calls Subaru Subaru, but I'll probably write him as Kokie in the narration. Tell me if it's too annoying and we can fix it. Woohoo! Chapter ten! I was wondering if this day would ever come. This chapter's a little happier than my last, has humour in it at least, which I'm blaming on all the chocolate I've eaten today - oh precious Easter... Ok, let's try to do a poll. Do you think Taiitsukun/Tai-Yi-Jun is a boy or girl? I'm sure anyone who's seen the last episode is just as confused as I am)

Review:

azn: Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me. How was your vacation? I just got back from visiting Chicago myself, America is so weird, but I really loved it! Where'd you go?


	11. Lei Sying

Woohoo! 25 reviews, thanks azn!

Chapter Eleven: Lei-Sying

"Tai-Yi-Jun!?!"

"I know! I couldn't believe it! I never thought she'd be so little and so... ug-"

"What did she say about Byakko?"

"Huh?" Suzuno looked over to Toroki who was sitting by herself in the corner, a serious look on her face, unlike the other Seishi who looked interested and amazed. She had met the Tai-Yi-Jun!

After her meeting with Tai-Yi-Jun, Suzuno had run back to the palace and had wasted no time in gathering everyone up. She was so excited about all of this. The creator of the world had given her a visit. For the first time in all the weeks she had been there, she felt like a real Miko.

She almost had all the Seishi, she had the blessing of the Earth's creator. All that was left was to summon Byakko and get her three wishes... Whatever those wishes would be, she hadn't really thought about them throughout all this turmoil.

Suzuno now looked at Toroki, remembering Tai-Yi-Jun's words.

He's not evil.

But there was something else, Suzuno thought to herself. Byakko was temperamental... But what did she mean by that? He's not bad, just touchy? What was she supposed to say to Toroki who needed a specific answer.

"She said," just tell her word for word. "She said that he's not evil."

Toroki was silent for a few minutes. "Well if he's not evil, then what is he?"

Suzuno had to shrug. "I don't know, I didn't ask..."

Toroki hid her annoyance. "Well then, we're pretty much right where we started." Toroki then got up and left the room. "Wake me up when we're ready to leave."

Amefuri watched her leave. "I should go as well, we do have a long day ahead of us." Amefuri got up and left, confused thoughts of Tai-Yi-Jun running through his head.

"Well she's touchy," Subaru scoffed once Toroki was gone.

"Leave her alone, she's had a hard time," Tokaki defended her.

Subaru glared daggers at him. "Why are you always trying to start a fight with me?"

"What?" Tokaki looked beyond confused as Subaru stormed out of the room. "Ok, just what the heck did I miss? When was I trying to start a fight with her?"

Suzuno looked at Tatara, who gave a shrug and a confused look as well. "I don't know, maybe she's just bad that you're always giving Kokie a hard time."

"Don't even call him that! His name's Kousa, and he's a poor substitute for a real Seishi."

"See, there you go putting him down, and Subaru is his best friend, obviously she's going to have problems with you saying all those mean things."

"I thought we were past all of that!" Tokaki looked exasperated as he thought to those few seconds in the cave when all he could think about was her. And then when they had embraced... But then he remembered how all she could talk about was Kousa. Kousa this and Kousa that. Suddenly he disliked Kousa even more.

Suzuno sighed, suddenly feeling tired. "I think I'm going to bed. Maybe you should just talk to Subaru and ask her why she doesn't like you."

"Doesn't like me? How can I girl not like me?" Suzuno heard Tokaki explain as she left the room, she rolled her eyes as Tatara shook his head at his best friend.

"What I can never figure out is how any girl likes you." Tatara said mockingly.

"Don't even get me started Mr. I'm waiting for the perfect girl."

"Better than sleeping with every girl I meet..."

"I haven't slept with every girl I've ever met."

"Oh?" Tatara raised his eyebrow sceptically.

Tokaki thought for a moment, trying to remember all the women he had ever been with. He thought back to all those waitresses and courtesans of the palace with a fond smile. "Oh! You're mother! I never slept with your mother!"

Tatara's eyebrow twitched. "You better not have," he said through gritted teeth as he loomed over Tokaki.

Tokaki gave a nervous laugh.

The two were silent for a few minutes as they thought things over in their mind. Tokaki was tyring to think of why Subaru might not like him when he couldn't help but like her, and it wasn't just her looks... which were a great added bonus.

There was something else about her, about how kind she was, how loyal she was to her friend - even if he was a complete nuisance. He liked her, and when he thought about the cave and how worried he had been over her... It made his heart shudder at the thought of her hating him.

"Lau'an?"

"Kasara?" Tokaki looked up at Tatara, recognizing the need to use their real names in those moments when they were actually being serious.

"I want you to promise me something."

Tokaki looked at him sceptically. "Well... what exactly?"

"Now, I want you to know that I don't care what you to with others, or even what you do after we summon Byakko."

"...Ok..." Tokaki was beginning to feel more and more suspicious.

"But I want you to keep away from the women Seishi and Suzuno."

"Huh?" Tokaki raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" He looked oblivious.

Tatara looked annoyed. "You know what I mean. I don't want you sleeping with them."

Tokaki looked stumped. "None of them?"

"Lau'an!"

"Ok, ok... But-"

"Not 'but's. These aren't women who will disappear in the morning. They're with us until the summoning and I don't think we need anymore added aggravation."

"Aggravation? Just what are you insinuating?"

"That you can't keep your pants on around women!"

Tokaki paused. "You may have a point."

"Promise me, at least until we summon Byakko."

Tokaki looked like he was about to protest, but swallowed his words when he saw how serious Tatara looked.

"Ok... I promise - but only until we summon Byakko!"

"Fine."

"But you can't sleep with Suzuno either."

"Fi-what?"

"If I can't touch, neither can you."

"I wou-"

"Don't even try to feed me that 'gentleman' lie. I've seen how you look at Suzuno. Hey, don't feel bad, can't say the thought didn't cross my mind either... I mean heck, she's hot."

"Don't say that!"

"Right, right," Tokaki had a cocky smile on his face. "She's all yours... after we summon Byakko."

--

"What do you mean he's staying behind!?!" Subaru screamed at Suzuno, causing Byakko to jump up looking around in fear and Kokie to simply ask:

"Huh?"

"Well, for some reason of other he decided it would be best if he stayed here with you and Kokie," Suzuno answered, trying to sound as positive as she possibly could.

"But I don't want him here, and neither does Kousa."

"Nothing we can do about it, his mind is set."

"But why? Why is it set? Is he just trying to annoy me? Does he actually want to drive me to kill him? Because I will."

"Subaru, you don't have to worry about it, I'm sure you won't even see him-"

"Hey Suzuno, Subaru... Kousa..." Tokaki said from the doorway.

Subaru started shaking in anger.

"Tokaki!" Suzuno turned around with a smile, she quickly grabbed his arm and started dragging him away. "Don't wanna miss out on saying goodbye, do you? C'mon, let's go!... faster..." Suzuno looked back at the glaring Subaru and wondered if they wouldn't be one Seishi short when they returned with Karasuki.

--

"Is he to be trusted?" Jian asked Chi's father as they stood outside of a temple, her left arm hung in a bloody sling, her other wounds were too minor in the eyes of a bandit to be cared for.

"Of course he is to be trusted. I put more trust in this man that I do you or any other bandit. I've known him ever since I was a young man, and he has never led me astray and I know he never will," Chi's father rambled on as Jian cocked her head to the side, looking around at the great temple and the monks wandering around.

They were waiting to be summoned before the head monk, and the handful of bandits who had accompanied their leader there looked extremely out of place in their ripped and dirty clothing, mangy hair and unwashed features.

Jian still wasn't sold on the idea of being led by a monk. Just what in the world did this monk know about bandits anyway? They had no real reason to trust him.

"He shall see you now," a young monk came up to them, avoiding them with his eyes.

Chi's father smiled. "Wait here Jian, we will soon have all our answers.

--

The four were travelling across the desert, heading out west to where the village was to be found. Amefuri was leading the way, Tatara and Suzuno rode beside each other having the occasional conversation together, and Toroki stayed in the back, silent and ever watchful.

Tatara had explained to Suzuno that that morning Tokaki had come to his room, telling him that he wasn't going to accompany them because he couldn't stand the thought of a woman hating him and that he was going to figure out what was the matter, even if it killed him.

Suzuno had sighed. "And she may just..." She said as they continued on their way.

Amefuri was sure that they would reach the village the next afternoon, which meant spending a night in the desert, but Suzuno wasn't worried about that, she was becoming accustomed to spending the night outdoors and in strange new places.

As strange as all of this seemed to Suzuno, especially at first, it all seemed so normal now. The fact that most of the Seishi could do incredible feats of magic she could only dream about before didn't startle her. Maybe it was just this place, this whole crazy Chinese like landscape, because she was sure that back in Morioka, had she seen a man begin to teleport, she would have thought she had lost her mind.

Though come to think of it... maybe she had lost her mind.

She looked at Tatara and then Amefuri and Toroki. Were they all just figments of her imagination? Was she actually in some hospital at the moment?

No, she finally thought, that would be too easy. Nothing about all of this is easy.

Toroki suddenly rode up past Tatara and Suzuno to where Amefuri was riding.

"We need to go faster," Toroki said, a hint of worry in the back of her eyes.

"...Why?" Amefuri asked cautiously, bringing his horse to a halt, Suzuno and Tatara joined them.

Toroki looked slightly annoyed. "Because I don't have a terribly good feeling about this." Toroki looked away from Amefuri and looked out at the horizon.

Amefuri looked behind them, but saw nothing but sand.

"Tell me what you're thinking." He said, looking back at Toroki.

"I'm thinking that I haven't heard from my father in a while..."

"You shouldn't be paranoid. How could he possibly know where we are right now?" Tatara asked, Toroki gave him a sharp glance.

"I know my father... and he has ways of knowing where we are... And I just got a bad feeling like he's coming for us.

--

"My Lord," the man kneeled down before the monk, his eyes locked on the floor.

"Ah, welcome Lei-Sying. Please, do stand up," the head monk motioned to the gruff looking man and he stood up, his eyes meeting the monk's. "I hear your daughter has been up to no good."

A look of anger crossed Lei's face, but he quickly suppressed it. "Yes my Lord. She has joined the Seishi."

"As I told you she would," the monk looked slightly cross. "You should have killed her when you had the chance Lei-Sying... like I told you to all those years ago..."

"I wanted to my Lord, truly I did, but-"

"No excuses Lei-Sying!" Lei bit his tongue in anger. He detested being spoken down to. "The job will be finished now. We must save Xi-Lang. "Now... as for that information you wanted about the Miko."

A young monk stepped out from a dark corner, holding out a scroll. He handed it to the head monk and then stepped back as if he never existed.

"Here you go Lei-Sying," he handed Lei the scroll. "I had my monks write it in simple terms for your small bandit mind." The monk smiled while Lei held his temper down.

Lei took the scroll from the monk. "And what of you my Lord?"

The monk paused for a while. "If you fail, and I pray you do not, I will stop the summoning... I will save Xi-Lang."

--

As the sun rose, the four travellers found themselves finally leaving the desert behind, heading towards scattered trees and plains, their shadows in front of them.

Their journey was nearly over, the village was so close. Suzuno felt her heart in he throat at the thought of the last Seishi being just before them, of the summoning just before them, of her future just before them...

Little did she know of the bandits just behind them...

(It had occurred to me that I don't actually know how long Suzuno has been there, but I figure it's been at least two weeks up to this point. Well this chapter didn't go anywhere that I wanted it to, and that's not a bad thing, but they were supposed to get to the village in this chapter... but as I wrote it started getting long and I realised that I had to end it at some point, and this seemed like a nice little cliffender-type ending. I really liked this chapter though, because I was dying to have Tokaki and Tatara just talk and be friends because that's what they are and I haven't really explored it before, but now I am and I'm really liking it. So I left the three characters you were getting used to behind, because Amefuri and Toroki needed some time in the limelight... especially Amefuri, who in the original draft of this chapter wasn't written in at all *sweatdrop*. I love Amefuri, but the story hasn't gotten to his little story arc yet so it's easy to forget his importance. So Lei-Sying is starting to become a main character, he wasn't a big character in the original outline, he was just kinda there and mentioned sometimes. The monk was there, though the outline basically just says 'monks' and they're the 'bad-guys', though nobody's really bad, they're just following religion blindly. I also just wanted to add a note here. Chi's name is actually 'Qi', but I keep writing it as Chi because I figured 'Qi' might be too weird of a name - oh yeah, and Jian Rian's so much more normal... though I don't think I actually named her - and that might get in the way of the story. I have been thinking lately that maybe I should go back and change all that... who knows. Anyhoo, next chapter will have a brand-new character and fighting! Yay fighting! Go fighting, go fighting! Speaking of fighting... I live in a house where I'm a Leaf's fan, my mom's a die hard Bruins fan and my step-dad a die hard Red Wing's fan... Think we'll live through these Playoffs?)

Reviews:

Aoi Dragon: ... I love you! I did in fact realise my Reikaku/Taikyoku mistake yesterday, but all that Chineses stuff is awesome (especially seeing I'm trying to keep this as Chinese as possible). *Gives you a FY Plushie of your choice* Did I mention that I loved you?

Ryochan8: Hey thanks! That's an awesome idea because knowing Kousa (and hey, I can say that I do, right?), I'm pretty sure that's exactly what he'd tell everyone... after he gets out of bed that is... I'm so horrible to him. Now, the reason I can't figure out what the hell Taiitsukun is, is because in the very last episode Taiitsukun transforms into what can only be described as a good looking man...

azn: You're my 25th reviewer, you rock! *Gives you a cookie with sprinkles on top*. So, California huh? Can't say I've ever been there... unless I've been there in a past life, in which I can say I've been there, even though I can't say I remember being there. Who can say? I can't. (Stop me if I've stopped making sense)


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